The Earth Moved
by bionic4ever
Summary: TEM1: An earthquake devastates CA, a psychotic killer or two are on the loose, and Steve and Jaime must find a way to overcome it all. My NaNoWriMo entry, in several installments. Thanks to the members of The Bionic Project and special thanks to Julie.
1. Chapter 1

**THE EARTH MOVED**

(A/N:This story is being written for NaNoWriMo, and, as such, is much longer than usual fanfiction. For this reason, and because it is still a work-in-progress, I will be partial-posting it in several installments.)

Chapter One

Steve was supposed to be fixing the barn roof. He knew he should be laying out the lumber and patching the holes so they could bring the horses home again, but there was Jaime, picking flowers over in the meadow. She looked so beautiful, so tempting, that Steve realized he'd just spent the last fifteen minutes sitting on the eaves, watching her. The horses were fine, staying at Jim and Helen's ranch, and while he did miss them, he _wanted her._ _**Now.**_

It still amazed him that Jaime was here at all, alive, happy...and finally his. They'd married in the hospital chapel several weeks after Chris Williams' and Michael Marchetti's attempt on her life had nearly taken Jaime from him forever. It seemed they'd been granted two miracles: Jaime's memory had finally returned and she had survived her horrific ordeal (involving torture with live wires) with no permanent damage to her heart. Now that she was finally home again – _their_home, no less – Steve found he couldn't keep his eyes (or his hands) off of her.

Giving in to the irresistible force, he slid down from the roof and ambled over to the field. "Well, hello there, Pretty Lady," he said in his best Southern drawl while tipping an imaginary hat, "fancy meetin' you 'round these parts."

Jaime smiled, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her husband. "I heard there was a handsome Colonel nearby who just might sweep me off my feet and carry me away."

"He might do a whole lot more than that, if you're not careful..."

"I'll take my chances," Jaime said lightly, circling her hands on the muscles that rippled across his bare chest and then squealing happily as he lifted her off the ground and cradled her close to his body for a long, sensual kiss.

Maintaining deep lip and eye contact the whole way, Steve carried Jaime into the house and set her down gently on the bed. He had no sooner begun working the buttons of her camisole when the emergency warning radio on the dresser began to squall.

They were already rather pre-occupied and managed to give the announcement about ten percent of their attention. There were so many of them lately it was hard to take it too seriously.

"Earthquake advisories have been issued for all of Southern California and Northern California up to and including the Sacramento area," the announcer was droning. "Measurable activity has occurred within the last twenty-four hours in the areas surrounding San Bernardino, Barstow and Joshua Tree National Park. All residents are urged to remain alert for possible further seismic activity..."

Jaime rolled her eyes, conditioned to these warnings from having spent most of her life in California. "I thought the Earth was supposed to move _after,_" she joked, "not when we're just getting started."

Steve chuckled and, since it didn't sound too serious, reached over and turned off the radio. Jaime's camisole hit the floor, and soon they were both too blissfully occupied to give the warning another thought.

Hours later, they stretched out in each other's arms, happy, satiated and too relaxed to move. "I suppose we could turn that box back on now," Jaime said as she traced soft patterns on Steve's chest with her fingertip.

"You keep doing that, and you'll be turning something else back on," Steve told her, grinning.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

- - - - - -

Jaime and Steve meandered into the kitchen for a late-night supper just before midnight, and there were no further transmissions from the weather radios. (They had a second unit in the living room, just to be safe.) They polished off the last of a pizza and a bottle of wine in front of the fireplace, reveling in the sheer joy of simply being together. No words were necessary; their eyes spoke volumes about the depth of their love for each other and the strength of the bond they'd always shared. In one way or another, they'd been connected since the day they'd first met, more than a quarter-decade earlier. At times, one of them had to carry the torch alone when the other wasn't able, but the flame of their united spirits had never flickered or gone out.

Jaime's amnesia had, for a time, seemed that it would ultimately bring "Steve and Jaime" to an end, but Fate was unwilling to allow that and miraculously, Jaime's memory had returned after the doctors had given up all hope of helping her. She was torn with opposing thoughts on what to do about that, believing it wouldn't be fair to Steve to expect him to jump right back into things when he'd been trying so hard to live without her.

She'd tried to write a letter and only succeeded in overflowing her wastebasket with crumpled wads of paper; nothing sounded right. Just when she was ready to either burst into tears or put a fist through the wall, her doorbell rang. Steve had flown clear across the country with a vague but very strong sense that Jaime needed him. He'd believed she was sick or in trouble but one look into her eyes told him all he'd needed to know; _**his **_Jaime had finally returned.

Now, sitting in front of the fire with her, Steve still marveled at his good fortune. She was the only woman he'd ever truly loved, and even after several recent (very serious) attempts on their lives, they were not only safe and well – they were _together. _Their eyes met, touching each other as intensely as if they were making love.

They leaned toward each other at the same moment, still without needing to speak, and Steve tenderly claimed Jaime's mouth with his own, pulling her onto his lap and taking in every detail as he savored the taste of her lips. The sudden trembling he felt didn't come from their bodies, though; it was somewhere beneath them and merely a slight distraction.

"You feel that?" he asked softly. Already, it was gone.

"I wanna feel a lot more of _that_," Jaime whispered, kissing him more deeply as she eased his open shirt backwards off his shoulders and pulled her husband down onto the furry rug beside the fire.

- - - - - -

When they were finally in bed and beginning to get sleepy, Steve propped himself up on one elbow and grinned. "When we go for our physicals tomorrow, I'm gonna tell Rudy we've already had our workout..."

"Steven Austin! You will do no such thing!"

"Is that a dare?"

"NO!"

"Alright, ok, I'll be good," he laughed as Jaime bopped him on the head with her pillow. Once she was lying down again with an _I won_ smile on her face, Steve couldn't resist adding "Probably," just before turning off the light.

- - - - - -


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Still taking those twenty mile jogs together, three times a week?" Rudy asked when he'd finished putting his patients through their paces and completed all of their tests.

Jaime blushed and Steve suddenly found the floor tile extremely interesting. "Well...um..." Jaime stammered, "actually, we may have missed a few days."

Rudy flashed them both a reassuring smile. "Well, whatever you've been doing, keep it up; you're both in excellent shape, exceeding every one of my specs." He pretended not to notice the little kick Jaime gave Steve's ankle. "I'd have to say marriage agrees with you."

"Always knew it would," Steve said with a shrug.

"Have you been working much?" the doctor inquired.

Jaime shook her head. "We were supposed to help Oscar behind the scenes when the President came to L.A. tonight, but they're postponing his visit on account of the earthquake advisories."

Rudy nodded. "That's probably wise."

"Maybe," Jaime conceded, "but I think they're over-reacting. This _is _California; when do we not have an earthquake advisory...or two?"

"Have you heard from Oscar yet?" Rudy wondered.

"His plane got in about half an hour ago," Steve told him. "Russ picked him up at the airport, so they should be here -"

"Right about now," Oscar's voice boomed from the doorway. "Coffee hot?"

"We even saved you some," Rudy said, smiling as he handed him a steaming cup. "I have to head down to the lab to enter your stats," he told the Austins, "but hang around and we can all have lunch."

Oscar took a long gulp of coffee and sighed. "I can't stay; I have a meeting with the Secret Service in an hour."

"You'll stay, though?" Rudy asked his dynamic duo, on his way out the door.

"Of course," Jaime agreed. "Oscar, has the President set a new date to fly out yet?"

"That's what this meeting is about." He poured himself a little more coffee. "I'll let you know as soon as they tell me, because I'll still need both of you there." He leaned back against Rudy's desk, propping himself on the edge. "I guess it'll depend on -"

Oscar didn't have a chance to finish his sentence before the building began to shake violently, the ceiling started to crumble and the floor collapsed beneath them.

- - - - - -

OSI-Los Angeles, which had only minutes earlier been a hub of swirling, cacophonous activity, was deathly silent. The entire world seemed to have quieted to nothing more than a few soft moans and cries for help. Jaime tried to force her eyes to open for several very long minutes before she realized they already _were _open; it was her surroundings that had grown dark. She cursed her bionic hearing, because the sounds of the injured and dying all around her were almost too much to bear.

_A bomb...? _was her first thought. _No – an __**earthquake.**_ She cautiously moved to sit up, but her head hit hard against something solid just inches above her face. A desk? An exam table? Maybe concrete; she had no way to tell. Her right arm was pinned beneath her body, and she didn't have any room to maneuver herself to free it. Her legs had a bit more wiggle room, but she was afraid to kick out randomly without knowing if anyone else was trapped close by.

"Steve...?" she called out, tentatively at first, her voice quieted by shock and fear. "Oscar...? Rudy...?" _Rudy...Oh, God – Rudy was in the basement! _"**Steve!**" she cried out once more. Her head (or the world – she wasn't sure which) began to spin crazily, and Jaime closed her eyes.

Oscar opened his own eyes when he heard Jaime calling out to them, but by the time he cleared the dust from his throat and tried to answer, her voice had been stilled. He couldn't let himself begin to imagine the possible reasons for that. He sat up slowly, braced by his arms, and wondered where his legs were. He couldn't see them beneath a pile of rubble; strange thing was, he couldn't feel them, either. Oscar looked up and wondered why there was grayish, hazy-looking sky where there should have been ceiling. His head was pounding, but he knew help was desperately needed. Had anyone called for help? Did anyone even know what had happened?

He had a general idea of where Jaime was – _buried, _it seemed – but...where was Steve? He saw a man's leg extended out from beneath the rubble, but Oscar told himself numbly that it couldn't be Steve; this leg had a bone sticking out of it. Suddenly queasy, he turned his head in the other direction...and found Steve.

His friend was lying face down, his entire body visible except his head, which lay beneath a small pile of rubble. He wasn't moving. Oscar stretched out his arm as far as he could, but couldn't reach Steve or begin clearing the debris that covered his head. His next thought was to radio for help, but as he'd expected, his datacom had been crushed in the collapse and was now just a useless piece of metal. Or...was it?

A leg from Rudy's desk was nearby, but also just out of reach. Thinking as quickly as a shocked mind possibly could, Oscar bashed the datacom against some concrete and forced it open. He pulled out a few of the longest, thickest wires and fashioned a primitive hook. Slowly, inch by agonizing inch, he managed to pull the desk leg to where his fingertips could just brush against it. One more good yank and – yes! - he had it. Holding the long, sturdy piece of wood tightly with both hands, Oscar leaned as close as his immobilized lower body would allow to where Steve was still lying, motionless and silent. Little by little, virtually a pebble at a time, Oscar brushed the rubble and debris off of Steve's head until he was completely unburied.

"Steve...can you hear me, Pal?" he called, his throat still caked with dust.

His herculean efforts were rewarded with a quiet groan as Steve shifted position just slightly, turning his face toward Oscar and opening his eyes briefly before closing them tightly in a grimace of pain.

"Steve? Steve!"

"...mmmm...?"

"Jaime's hurt, Pal; she needs help."

"Jaime..." Steve repeated in a groggy stupor. The words slowly sunk in, though, and Steve forced his eyes open again. "Where...is...she?"

"I'm not sure. She was calling to us, and then she...stopped. She's buried in here somewhere, and I can't get to her."

Steve was instantly alert and began struggling to pull himself to his feet. He sank back to the ground, clutching his head. "Have to...find her..." he gasped.

"Take it slow," Oscar advised. "I think you took a pretty good knock on the head."

"Yeah...ok...slow..." Steve looked around, gradually regaining equilibrium. "Where's Rudy?"

"I haven't seen him – or heard him – yet," Oscar replied, as gently as possible.

Steve pulled himself up and stumbled across the rubble, covering the few feet between himself and Oscar before sinking down again to rest. "Are you...hurt?"

"Nothing that won't keep until later," Oscar assured him. _Shouldn't my legs hurt? _he wondered silently. "Find Jaime, Pal. Then maybe the two of you can find Rudy."

Steve stood up and forced his legs to stay steady. He scanned the whole area for any sign of his wife – her clothing, a shock of blonde hair...something – but all he could see, even well beyond where OSI-Los Angeles used to be, was rubble and death.

"**Jaime!**" he shouted, feeling his heart pounding in his throat. There was no answer.

- - - - - -


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Steve had to force himself to focus only on what was directly around him. If he scanned the horizon (or even looked down the road) the destruction was overwhelming. Too many people needed help right here, where he was, and one of them was _Jaime._

"Can you move?" he asked Oscar. "I don't think it's safe here."

"My legs are pinned," Oscar told him. "I'm ok, though; find Jaime and Rudy."

Steve knew he couldn't handle this many rescues all alone; there might not be time. He spotted a group of four lower-level OSI staffers who were milling about in complete confusion. He reached down and carefully moved the rocks, concrete and steel to uncover Oscar's legs. They were in bad shape, but Steve was careful to keep his expression neutral. "Hey!" he called to the staffers, "I need you to move him away from the wreckage...and watch out for his legs." As the staffers moved to comply, grateful to have some focus, Steve told them "Once he's safe, come on back. When I pull people out, you're my evacuation crew."

Oscar turned and pointed Steve toward a spot amidst the rubble. "When I heard Jaime, it sounded like she was over there."

Steve nodded grimly, seeing no sign at all of his wife. He gave Oscar's shoulder a gentle pat to express what he couldn't say in words and started stepping very carefully across the debris. He called to Jaime several more times but heard nothing in response. A hand reached out from between two concrete slabs in a desperate, non-verbal plea for help, and Steve began a pile on the grass where he tossed the concrete and unidentifiable objects as he unburied the next victim. It was a security guard, barely conscious, who had kept enough presence of mind to raise an arm as the building tumbled around him. Steve pulled him the rest of the way out and signaled to the staffers that he had another one.

_Where was Jaime? _The next two people he came across were already dead. Wishing there was something to cover the bodies with, he told the staffers to move them clear of the destruction as well. He pulled their youngest receptionist out next, trying not to wince when he saw the huge gash on her forehead. His own head throbbed like a jackhammer was inside, but he had to keep going, and he did.

"Colonel..." the receptionist said weakly. "I heard...your wife..."

"Where was she? Do you know?"

"Sounded like...she was right next to me."

At last, Steve had a little more to go on. Tossing loose rubble onto his ever-growing pile, he began clearing away the section where the receptionist had been. The first thing he saw was a hand just barely sticking out from beneath a huge chunk of what used to be a wall. _Jaime's wedding ring! _He'd found her! Steve carefully began moving the wall section away when another rumble from deep within the earth sent him to his knees. Everything movable shifted, and when the shaking stopped...Jaime was gone.

The cries for help seemed to have quieted now. Everyone who was yet to be rescued could either no longer speak...or no longer needed rescue. Steve fought back his rising sense of fear and forced himself to maintain a slow, steady pace and not dig frantically. As he worked, he computed in his mind how many people could possibly have been in the building. Secretaries, receptionists, scientists, guards...the number was staggering. _One at a time, _he reminded himself, _that's all I can do._ He had cleared a respectable hole in the rubble when he spotted a white lab coat.

"Rudy...?" he said softly. He gently turned the man over and breathed a sigh of relief. The kind, elderly doctor spat out a mouthful of dust, sputtered and began to move his limbs.

"Thought...I was...done," he told Steve. "There must be...dozens...of injuries." In spite of several nasty bumps on his head and an obviously broken arm, he tried to rise to his feet. "Leg is...broken, too," Rudy mumbled, sinking back down to the ground. "Have to help," he insisted, trying to brace himself and get up anyway.

Steve placed a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder. "Uh-uh, Doc. You're staying put. I've got people evacuating the injured; I'll make sure they get you next. They say doctors make the worst patients, so prove 'em wrong, ok?"

"Are you hurt?" Rudy asked, watching as Steve continued to dig.

"Couple knocks on the head; nothing I can't handle."

"Steve -"

"I'm ok."

Rudy looked around. "Where's...Jaime?"

"I haven't found her yet."

Rudy closed his eyes for a moment, uttering a silent prayer, just before the crew arrived to move him to safer ground. Steve kept going, pulling three more live victims (and one more body) out of the wrecked OSI building, before the jackhammer in his head started trying to drill its way out. His vision blurred and he was just about to crumple to the ground when a pair of hands caught him from behind.

"I gotcha," whispered the sweetest voice Steve had ever heard.

"Jaime!" Instead of letting her ease him down, Steve turned and embraced his wife, his heart overflowing with relief. "When I couldn't find you -" he began, but was too choked with emotion to finish.

Jaime felt how unsteady he was and pointed to a clear spot in the grass, away from the massive piles of nothing. "Over there, Tiger. You need to sit down before you fall."

"I'm alright." He leaned back to gaze more fully at her. "As long as I have you -"

"I love you, too," Jaime told him with tears in her eyes. "So much that if you don't go over there and sit down, I will carry you."

"I have to help..."

As they took a step, the debris beneath their feet shifted. "Feel how unsteady this is?" Jaime pointed out sensibly. "What you _have _to do is get over there where it's a little safer so we can assess the situation and decide what to do."

Steve nodded, wanting to get there on his own but grateful for Jaime's support as he sank onto the grass. It was only after she sat down beside him that he noticed the damage to her right arm. There was a gaping hole a few inches from her shoulder and when he took a closer look, he had to struggle mightily not to let his wife see the cold, paralyzing fear that pounded within him.

_Jaime's power pack was punctured._

- - - - - -


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Steve blinked and looked away from the hole in Jaime's arm and into her eyes. "Are you in pain, Sweetheart?" he asked gently.

Her words tumbled out in an all-in-one-breath rush. "No. But, Steve, I couldn't get out! My arm was pinned underneath me and there was all sorts of heavy stuff on top of me. If I kicked my way out, someone else might've been hurt. It was sorta hard to breathe, and then I think I passed out, but I did feel everything move again; that must've woke me up. Then all of a sudden I saw a patch of daylight and my arm was free and I dug my way out."

"I was digging everywhere, trying to find you. I was so worried."

Jaime couldn't help noticing the way Steve kept looking at her arm, so she looked, too. "Oh, no...isn't that" she lowered her voice "the power pack?"

Steve didn't want her to panic, so he kept his voice calm and even. "Yes, but I'm sure it's not too serious. Don't worry; we'll get it taken care of." Steve motioned to one of the exhausted staffers. "Where's Doctor Wells?"

The staffer pointed to a spot in a clear field across the road, where they'd taken some of the injured. Steve nodded his thanks and focused in for a fast, closer look. Rudy was conscious, sitting up and talking to Oscar, who appeared to have found another datacom. Steve turned to Jaime, reaching out to softly caress her face. "I'm gonna go get Rudy," he told her. "Promise me you'll stay right here."

"I could come with you -"

"Jaime, _promise me!_"

Shocked by the tone and forcefulness of his voice, she nodded meekly. "I...won't move. I'm sorta tired, anyhow."

Steve kissed her. "I'll be right back." She nodded and he flashed her a quick, reassuring smile before blazing a bionically-fast trail across the road. "I found her," he told Oscar and Rudy. He knew Jaime would be unable to hear them over the symphony of sirens, warning systems and alarms sounding from every direction, but he lowered his voice just the same. "We've got a problem."

"Jaime's hurt?" Rudy assumed.

Steve nodded, his face grim. "Her power pack's been punctured."

Rudy dropped his head onto his one good hand, trying to think. All three men knew without voicing it that Jaime's situation was grave. If the power pack wasn't repaired or replaced, from the moment it was damaged Jaime had somewhere between ninety minutes and two hours to live.

"There's a spare pack for each of you - buried somewhere in that mess," Rudy lamented. "And a spare from Colorado or DC wouldn't get here in time. We'll have to repair it; there's no other way."

"You can't operate with one hand...can you?" Steve asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, but I can be right there to guide you through it," Rudy told him.

"Me?" Steve took a deep breathe which failed to calm his nerves, but he knew there was no other way. Michael Marchetti was locked up in an NSB holding cell, less than two miles away, but there was no way Steve (or Rudy and Oscar) would allow Jaime's attempted killer to perform life-saving bionic surgery. Time was already rapidly ticking away; if Jaime was going to be saved, Steve would have to be her surgeon. "Alright – let's do it," he said with determination. "We'll need supplies -"

"There's nothing left..." Rudy said weakly.

Steve mind was set on rapid-fire. "Rudy, where's the Medivac?"

Rudy nodded, his eyes lighting up with hope. "Just beyond those trees; there's a hangar in the field and it's secure – steel-reinforced concrete – the chopper has everything we need."

"We can take what we need to save Jaime," Steve planned, "and then loan out the chopper for Search and Rescue. I'm betting they could use another bird in the air. We can operate in the hangar."

"I'll call the National Guard about the chopper," Oscar said, picking up the datacom.

"I'll send someone for you," Steve called over his shoulder to Rudy as he took off on the fastest bionic sprint of his life.

- - - - - -

Steve took a bench from the chopper for Rudy to sit on and even though Jaime wanted to help grab supplies, he made her sit there, too. Moving so fast that he was almost a blur, Steve brought out a gurney, a medicine box, oxygen and another box containing the tools they'd need. He hadn't told Jaime yet that he'd be performing her surgery.

"We probably need something to prop Rudy's arm up with," Jaime suggested to her husband.

Steve set the medicine box down next to Rudy (who thankfully still had a key in his pocket). "About that, Sweetheart...Rudy can't do the surgery with only one arm, but -"

"Then who -?"

Steve looked into her eyes. "Me."

"Oh."

"Rudy will be right there, walking me through it. Are you ok with that?" he asked gently.

Jaime smiled. "I trust you."

"We don't have anesthetic, Honey," Rudy told her, taking her left arm and preparing to give her a shot, "but this is a very strong painkiller; it should do the trick."

Jaime nodded, winced a bit when the needle stuck her, then hopped up onto the gurney. "Ok, Doctor Austin," she said, aiming for a light tone and almost succeeding, "let's get this show on the road."

Rudy began briefing Steve on how to begin while they waited for the shot to take effect. Two of the staffers carried Oscar into the hangar and eased him down onto the bench. He'd insisted on being there to support his friends and, truth be told, he also wanted to be some place where he couldn't see the growing number of fatalities lying on the grass.

Jaime groggily closed her eyes and, as instructed, Steve slipped the oxygen mask over her face. He had just focused in on the first two microscopic wires he'd have to re-connect when the whole world (or so it seemed) began to once again shake and lurch violently. The hangar remained standing, but tiny pieces of the ceiling crumbled off and landed at Oscar and Rudy's feet, barely missing their heads.

Was this an aftershock, or had the first violent quake merely been a harbinger of even worse jolts to come? Surrounded by solid concrete, it was hard to tell. Rudy said another (very fast) silent prayer; this was just about the worst possible timing. "It isn't safe here, after all. Oscar," he said, thinking very quickly, "can you fly a chopper?"

"It's been a lot of years, but I think so," Oscar answered.

"Call the Guard back and tell them we'll deliver the chopper." There was no doubt that, with the safety of his patient first and foremost in his mind, Rudy was now in charge. "Steve can get us off the ground and headed in the right direction. You'll just have to keep us up there until he finishes working on Jaime, then he can land the chopper."

The surgeon would be talking the Air Force pilot through surgery while the pilot talked his boss through the operation of the aircraft. It was by no means an ideal plan, but it was the only one they had.

- - - - - -


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

It was probably a blessing that no one aboard the medivac had time to spend looking down at the land below them. The devastation would still be the same when they landed, and everyone had enough to deal with during the flight. Steve fought to keep his nerves from getting the better of him; after all, this was his wife he – a non-surgeon – was operating on, and if he failed...the result would be unbearable.

Steve was able to bridge the tiny gap created by the puncture, re-connect wires too small to see with the naked eye and do a rudimentary patch of the hole itself before they arrived at Edwards Air Force Base. His 'patient' was stable (although still out cold from Rudy's injection) and he took the pilot's seat just in time to land the chopper.

Once they were safely on the ground and his multiple responsibilities were completed, stress and exhaustion took their toll. Steve laid his head back on the seat's headrest and closed his eyes, unable for the moment to do anything more.

Edwards was understandably short-staffed. While they hadn't taken much damage to the base itself, their personnel had been assigned to various outlying communities, to help in any way possible. This medivac carried precious cargo, though: the Director of the OSI, the agency's chief scientist and its two top operatives. A small team was waiting to meet them.

"All of the nearby hospitals are on emergency power," a Corporal told Rudy and Oscar, "and so are we. They're all full-up with patients, but we have a doctor here on base for Government personnel."

"Looks like we chose the right place," Rudy said, finally allowing himself to relax.

The confused Corporal looked from one occupant of the chopper to the next. "Didn't you say you were performing surgery in the air?"

Oscar nodded. "That's right, Son."

"I don't think any of you can even stand up. Who's taking care of who here?"

Steve opened his eyes and gave the Corporal a lop-sided grin. "We all took care of each other."

- - - - - -

The Base Hospital was very small and already extremely crowded. The four friends were given a small ward to themselves, and although a woman normally wouldn't have been bunked with three men, Jaime was expected to be released as soon as she was awake and coherent, and she and Steve would be joining the rescue efforts going on all across their portion of the state.

Less than an hour later, the Base Commander came rushing into the ward. "Mr. Goldman, we have one secure phone line still open for emergencies only, and somehow, they found you. I've got a message for you, Sir, and it's urgent." He handed Oscar the piece of paper he was carrying and quickly hurried onward to other pressing duties.

Oscar read the message, cursed silently to himself and then let out a longer audible string of expletives than he'd ever been heard to utter before. He read the paper again and sank back onto his pillow in total dejection.

"Oscar?" Steve queried. "What is it?"

"It's from Jack Hansen in DC," Oscar told them grimly, after glancing toward Jaime and seeing that she was still sound asleep. "The NSB Headquarters in Los Angeles was leveled in the quake." He let that information sink in for a moment before going on. "The prisoner holding cells were compromised; most, but not all, of them were buried in the rubble. Chris Williams is confirmed dead. They can't find Marchetti or Callahan...they may have been killed as well, or -"

"Or they may have survived and dug their way to freedom," Steve surmised.

"That's right. They don't have a lot of manpower available, but everyone they have is trying to find those two. If they're loose, they may have armed themselves by stealing a weapon from one of the NSB quake victims. I don't have to tell you how serious a threat they could pose."

Oscar was right. Steve knew full well the danger he and Jaime were in if Michael Marchetti and Peggy Callahan were free. His mind couldn't help flashing back to the horrific day when he'd almost lost Jaime for good...

_Steve woke up very slowly, with a monster of a headache. He got up, swinging his fists before he was completely conscious, then realizing there was no one to swing at. He was alone. The first thing he noticed was the security camera mounted on the wall, and he began kicking up a ruckus, to try and bring his captors to him. If only his head weren't so fuzzy...drugs...he guessed he'd probably been drugged. Steve attempted to push down the door, then gave it all the force he could muster, from both of his legs, with no success. He sat back down on the floor of the cell to consider his options._

_Where was he, anyhow – a prison? As he began to regain full awareness and looked around more closely, he realized this place was far more sinister than a prison cell. There were cuffs or manacles of some sort, about six feet up the wall opposite the camera. Shackles were also attached near the floor, making it clear to Steve that a human being was to be chained there. Then he saw...wires. More than a dozen wires hung from various heights, on either side of the manacle area. Curious, he touched the tip of his left index finger to one, and was jolted backward, into the camera wall. The wires were live, and one thing was terrifyingly clear: this was not a prison cell. It was a torture chamber._

_Steve sat up, as alert as he could make himself, when he heard a key in the door. At first, he saw only Jaime, out cold and slumped over, motionless. Steve's eyes traveled upward to see who was holding her so roughly, and the sight rocked him to his core._

_"Marchetti? What are you doing?"_

_The young doctor glared darkly at Steve, dumped Jaime's body down onto the cell floor beside him and stepped away without saying a word. In his place stood the man with the key – and the gun. This time, Steve was not shocked or even surprised. "Williams; I should've guessed you wouldn't die that easily." Chris took a step toward Jaime, and Steve leaned over her protectively. "Don't touch her," he warned, his voice fierce with anger._

_Chris shrugged. "Fine; I won't. **You** put her in the shackles, Colonel."_

_"Not a chance. I won't let you hurt her, and I certainly won't help you!"_

_The blond man's finger twitched on the trigger as he aimed his pistol straight at Jaime's head. "You do it now, or I'll shoot her, right there on the cold, hard floor. That something you wanna see, Colonel? The effects of a bullet in the brain at close range can be pretty ugly..."_

_Reluctantly, hoping he could save her before anything worse happened, Steve complied with Chris's demand to place Jaime in the shackles and was rewarded by Michael returning to jab him in the neck with a syringe. He didn't black out, but his muscles went weak, and his captors dragged him out of the cell and down the hall into the office where they dumped him into a chair in front of the video monitor. In spite of the fact that Steve no longer had any ability to fight back, Chris and Michael cuffed his hands behind the chair and drew heavy chains around him to secure him in place._

_"Why are you doing this?" he mumbled._

_Instead of an answer, Chris switched the monitor on, and Steve could see Jaime, chained to the wall and hanging limply with her feet barely supporting her – in vivid, horrific color._

_"I'll be right back," Michael said, to no one in particular. Steve soon saw him appear next to Jaime in the cell, and he began attaching the dangling wires to her body._

_"Don't worry; they're off – for now," Chris sneered. Behind Steve's back, he flipped another switch, for a second video camera. The Boss had specifically requested film of Steve's every pain-filled reaction._

_"You know," Chris said smoothly, "you and your little sweetie in there have not been very nice to the rest of us."_

_"You're doing this because I 'took her from you' – right?" Steve guessed._

_"Might be part of the reason -"_

_"Then, you've got me. Let Jaime go."_

_"Unfortunately, not an option -"_

_"Hook me up to your damn machine," Steve insisted, "but don't hurt her."_

_"You don't understand," Chris said, his voice rising, "Marchetti and I might be in this to see you suffer, but we're pawns – hired guns, I guess you'd say."_

_Steve began to struggle in earnest, in spite of the drugs' effects. It was no use. "So you're being paid...to hurt us?"_

_"Hurting you is a side benefit," Chris told him. "We've been paid to kill you, after you watch her die a long, slow death"_

Steve cringed inwardly at the memory. Peggy Callahan had always had a bit of a crush on Steve, but somehow couldn't handle it when Jaime and Steve were reunited. She'd hired Marchetti and Williams, who both carried bitterness now where they'd once carried a torch for Jaime, to carry out her plans, and they'd very nearly succeeded. If Michael and Peggy were free, the mere thought made Steve's mind reel in fear – not for himself, but for Jaime.

- - - - - -


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Steve's mind roared into overdrive. How (and what) was he going to tell Jaime? Not only had she very nearly died, they had tortured her...

_Chris and Michael said no more to their captive as they sat with him, staring at the monitor and waiting for Jaime to wake up. Steve had fought ferociously, but was unable to bend even the thin, weaker metal of his handcuffs. Doctor Marchetti knew precisely how to mix a drug cocktail, and it was working to perfection; Steve was fully alert, but too weak to move._

_The kidnappers snapped to attention as Jaime gradually began to stir. Both jumped to their feet in anticipation. "It won't be too bad, at first – less voltage than a little stun gun," Chris said in a cold voice. "We don't want her dying on us too soon. Check the meter, Marchetti."_

_Steve tried to send Jaime some sort of psychic signal to keep her eyes closed, but it didn't work. His stomach sank and his heart broke when he realized the camera was also wired for sound._

_"Steve..." she whispered in a weak voice. The terror she felt as she discovered her situation was evident on her face. Steve thought his heart would stop as Marchetti's hand flipped the switch to administer the first shock._

_At the exact same moment, the door burst open, and everything went crazy.__ Oscar, Russ, and a dozen assorted G-men stormed the office, but Steve's eyes were riveted to the monitor, where Jaime's body had jumped with the force of the jolt and was now hanging limply. She was breathing way too hard, and her eyes were closed. He couldn't tell if she was conscious._

_"Hit her again," Chris yelled to Michael. "Give her all of it!" The G-men were already grabbing his arms as he pointed his gun at Steve. He never had the chance to shoot before three of them threw him to the ground to be cuffed._

_Steve pulled so desperately at his chains that the chair tipped. As he was going down, he shouted "Shut down the power! **They're killing her**!" Steve heard Jaime cry out in pain and he broke free of his bonds as the room – and the building – fell into total darkness._

_"Jaime!" he called, running blindly down the hall. The heavy door and the drugs Steve had been given were no match for his love and determination, and the door flew open easily. His eye could barely make out her form against the wall, and he pulled at the chains to free her, then took her limp body in his arms and ran back toward the front office. "Hang on, Sweetheart," he pleaded. Steve held Jaime close to his chest, feeling her rapid heartbeat as he ran out the door to find the waiting Medivac._

_"Steve – over here!" Rudy called, shining a small beacon at him for guidance. He began assessing his patient the instant Steve laid her on the stretcher. "Get us to National, double speed!" he called to the pilot, as he and Steve hunched into the back of the chopper and it quickly took off. "Tell them to have a cardiac team ready."_

_**Cardiac**? Steve stared down at Jaime as the physician began his work. Her face was beyond pale; it was a frightening, ashen shade of gray. Jaime's lips had faded to bluish-white, and she wasn't moving. Steve moved slightly to one side, to allow the medic to assist Rudy, but he couldn't bring himself to let go of Jaime's hand._

_"She's not breathing," the medic said quietly._

_Rudy worked swiftly and silently for a few more moments, before bursting into a sudden flurry of activity. "Tachycardia," he said urgently, "and she's going into v-fib." The medic dove across the chopper and grabbed the small machine that Steve noted with dismay had more wires sticking out of it. "Steve," Rudy added, "you'll have to let go now."_

_Steve sat motionless for a split-second, stunned at this turn for the worse. He had to force back a tear as he released Jaime's hand and sat back to allow the men more room to work on saving her. A second medic, who'd been seated next to the pilot, joined them and assisted his partner in attaching the two electrodes to Jaime's chest. They leaned back at the sound of Rudy's voice. "Now!"_

_A switch was hit and once again, a current flowed through Jaime's body – this one trying to save her from the effects of the first jolt's lethal intentions. "Still V-fib," Rudy told them. "We're going again. Now!"_

_A nearly inaudible moan escaped Jaime's lips as her chest began to rise and fall again. Rudy leaned back over her briefly, and exhaled a sigh of relief. "Normal rhythm," he said, finally managing a small smile. "Great work, guys; we got her back."_

At first, the doctors had been unable to tell if the shocks had caused any permanent damage to Jaime's heart, but thankfully she'd emerged unscathed. Steve had gone to talk with Peggy in her NSB holding cell, demanding answers, but the cool, composed and intelligent OSI secretary seemed to no longer exist. Instead, she rambled, babbling nonsense about Jaime interfering in her relationship with Steve. Steve had to sadly accept that his former friend was now totally psychotic.

He and Jaime had realized that the ceremony wasn't as important to them as becoming officially united was, so they married in a quiet but beautiful wedding in the hospital chapel, a few weeks after the kidnapping. When Jaime was finally released from the hospital, their friends had thrown a huge "Welcome Home, Newlyweds" party for them at their ranch and since all three would-be killers were going to plead guilty and avoid trial, the ugly, painful ordeal finally seemed to be behind them. Until now.

"It isn't safe out there for Jaime – or for you – until we pin down their whereabouts and catch them, if they really are free," Oscar announced.

"I'll be fine," Steve insisted, "but Jaime...maybe she could be sedated until this is all over?"

"Try again, Austin," came the suddenly very-much-awake voice in the next bed.

"Rudy, sometimes I wish you'd never given her that ear," Steve groused.

Jaime sat up in her bed, determination shining brightly in her eyes. "If they are out there, they're looking for us...or for me. They won't surface until they think they've got me in their sights, so -"

"Back it up, Sweetheart," Steve told her. "You will _not _be acting as bait!"

"Well, no, not bait...exactly...but I do have an idea."

"Forget it," Steve said firmly.

"You haven't heard it yet."

Steve turned to stare at his wife, giving her one raised eyebrow. Rudy and Oscar wisely stayed out of the discussion for the moment and simply listened.

"Steve, they need us out there," Jaime said softly. "Even from the little bit I saw, I know there are a lot of injured people – some of them trapped or buried – and we can get to them where it might otherwise take a dozen men half a day."

Steve adamantly shook his head. "It's too risky. I'm sure Marchetti has somehow armed himself; we need to find you somewhere safe, send you to -"

"No! I'm not gonna hide, Steve! Especially not when we're needed so badly!"

"But -"

"Just listen – please?" Jaime asked in a calm, even voice. Steve looked at his two very silent friends and shrugged helplessly; Jaime was on a roll. "I wanna work with the rescue team at NSB – make it easy for them to find me -"

"Why don't we just serve you up on a silver platter?" Steve argued.

"Let her finish, Pal," Oscar said quietly.

"Thank you. You'll be there, too, of course, and that place is crawling with security types, even now, so how much safer could we be? I'll wear a wire...and a tracking device. If I do get taken, you'll be able to find me right away."

"And what if they don't wanna take you? What if they just decide to take a potshot from a rooftop somewhere?" Steve pointed out.

"We'll never find them if we don't give them a reason to come out of wherever they're hiding. Even you have to admit that."

"She's right, Steve," Oscar acknowledged.

"Of course I am!" Jaime said brightly. "So...let's get started!"

- - - - - -


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The Base's Intel department had everything Rudy needed to fashion tracking devices for Jaime _and _Steve. They'd decided against wearing wires, since they'd be found too easily and transmission might have proven impossible on the post-quake air-waves. The trackers would be able to pinpoint Jaime's location immediately, and she'd insisted that Steve wear one, too.

"After all," she said sensibly, "Callahan wanted _you._"

"But she's only psychotic," Steve argued, even as he was extending his arm so Rudy (assisted by Jaime) could implant the device. "Marchetti is the violent one."

"_Only psychotic?_" Jaime had to laugh at the irony. "Isn't that enough?"

His implant finished, Steve wrapped an arm around his wife and kissed her, knowing that when Jaime's mind was made up, it was pointless to argue.

"Sit down, Steve," Rudy requested, "and look straight into my penlight. Good – now follow it with your eyes but don't move your head. Great." The doctor clicked off the penlight and nodded to Oscar. "He's fine. He'll have a nasty headache for a day or two, but everything seems normal." He looked back at the Austins. "I want you to watch out for each other out there; you both may be weaker than you realize. Don't forget that even bionics need a break every now and then."

Oscar clicked off the datacom and set it on the bedside table. "Is he ok to fly the chopper, Rudy, or do we need a pilot?"

"I'll be fine," Steve assured them. "And I'm not lying, because I'll have Jaime on board – you know I'd never jeopardize her safety."

Oscar nodded. "Alright. You'll be taking the Medivac over to NSB Headquarters, or whatever's left of it. Deputy Director Paar will meet you there with a working datacom for each of you, and I expect you to use them. Check in and let me know what's going on, even if everything is fine."

Steve and Jaime both nodded, understanding how hard it was for Oscar to be laid up in a hospital bed when there were urgent matters to attend to.

"Good luck," Rudy and Oscar told them, almost in unison. When the Austins were gone, the two men looked at each other and sighed. This time, there were two silent prayers.

- - - - - -

"Steve?" Jaime began tentatively, once the chopper was airborne.

"Yeah?"

"Are Oscar and Rudy...ok?"

Steve had never been able to lie to Jaime. "Rudy's got a couple of simple fractures; he'll heal alright, in time."

"And...Oscar?" Jaime hadn't really seen his legs.

"I don't know, Sweetheart. His legs are...pretty bad, but he'll have the world's top surgeons working on him, so we have to stay positive."

Jaime nodded, feeling flooded by emotions: Oscar's injury, on top of what she was seeing out of the chopper windows, was almost too much to handle. Steve saw her chin quiver slightly as she struggled to be brave, and he wished he could take her in his arms and hold her close but he was piloting the aircraft, so for the moment all he could do was reach out and hold her hand.

- - - - - -

The NSB's complex was even more devastated than the OSI's building had been. Steve could barely find a clear area to set down the Medivac, but as soon as he did they saw Paar. Good to his word, the Deputy Director handed them each a datacom. "These are pretty hot commodities right now, but Goldman assures me you both need them."

Jaime eyed Paar a bit nervously; they had not been on the best of terms in the past (he'd once tried to have her jailed), but hopefully that would stay a distant memory and not affect what happened now. "Where would you like us to start?" she asked, seeing a need virtually everywhere and not a whole lot in terms of actual help.

"Take your pick," he told them. "We're grateful for any help you're willing and able to give, at this point."

"Where are the holding cells?" Steve requested.

"They used to be right over there," Paar said, pointing to an area just beyond a huge pile of unidentifiable wreckage.

"Is that where you found Chris Williams?"

Paar nodded. "He had the cell closest to the main building, so they found him almost right away. He was crushed beyond -"

"Thanks," Steve said, cutting him off before Jaime had to hear the gorier details. As they made their way to what used to be a small, underground jail, Steve kept one hand protectively at the small of Jaime's back, hovering like a guard dog and determined not to let her out of his sight. The first thing he noticed was that the building had crumbled inward; the walls of the holding cells were solid concrete reinforced with steel plates, and they'd held firm although the benches had fallen and the doors were rippled and broken from the sheer force of the structure above them coming down. The ceiling of Chris's cell had completely collapsed, filling it with large pieces of concrete, metal and wood. The middle cell was damaged but filled only about waist high with smaller bits of junk and the end cell was virtually intact, with no sign of its occupant.

Steve knew from his visit with Peggy Callahan that she'd been in the smallest cell – the one in the middle – so that meant Marchetti had been on the far end. Unless he'd been struck by falling debris, Steve realized with a sinking heart that there was a strong possibility Michael Marchetti was still alive...and free.

"Let's head over there, Sweetheart," he suggested, guiding Jaime toward what used to be the main building. "It looks like they're still pulling people out."

As they headed in that direction, Jaime suddenly stopped short. "Oh, God, Steve – Mom and Dad! Are they...ok?"

"There's no way to find out yet," he answered, as gently as possible. "But their ranch is further south than most of the damage, so hopefully everything is fine." Steve and Jaime looked at each other with sad, knowing eyes as the identical thought occurred to both of them. Their own ranch, further to the north, might not have been so lucky. Without needing words to express the depth of their emotions, they shared a tender, comforting embrace before joining the rescue team.

Jaime was the first to remember there were two worried men back at Edwards, anxiously waiting to hear from them. "Oh! I'd better let Rudy and Oscar know we got here ok."

Steve nodded, scanning the horizons for any sign of looming danger as Jaime pulled out her datacom. Well-hidden in the back of an NSB van, there was someone Steve didn't see (and Jaime didn't hear, since she was talking to Oscar) – someone who had a datacom of his own.

"They're here," he said quietly into the device. "Yes, both of them. I didn't have to pull any strange maneuvers to get 'em here, either – Goldman sent them. Wasn't that considerate? You know," he continued, watching while Jaime finished her call with Steve right next to her, "you owe me big, Marchetti."

- - - - - -


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Steve and Jaime found that the small rescue crew at NSB Headquarters had things pretty well in hand, so they found Paar to request reassignment.

"Which areas have been damaged the worst?" Steve asked, knowing there were probably hundreds of people who were waiting for help that hadn't yet arrived.

"I don't have all the reports yet, since most of the phone lines are down," Paar replied, "but the downtown areas seem to have taken a lighter hit than the residential neighborhoods."

"Because the taller building are earthquake-proofed," Jaime surmised.

"As much as they can be, anyhow," Paar told them. "The damage is extensive, though; early estimates have anywhere from a couple of hundred to a thousand fatalities – we won't really have a figure on that for a few days, at least. Thousands of homes and other structures three stories or less were lost, with at least a third of the state affected. The damage appears to be worse the closer you get to San Gorgonio Pass."

Steve and Jaime exchanged a look of shock before Steve muttered, soft enough that only Jaime could hear him, "Damn good thing Williams is dead..."

Paar looked from his clipboard to the Austins and back again. "I'll duck over to the Command Center and see where they need the most help."

Steve nodded thanks for both of them. He felt Jaime shiver next to him, and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Cold?"

"No. Steve...Chris may have caused this – all this death and destruction!" Tears began to well in her eyes as the realization truly hit home, and she buried her face on Steve's shoulder to fight off her emotions and regain composure. Steve held her close, feeling the same conflicts himself, and knowing exactly what Jaime was thinking – and remembering. It hadn't been that long ago...

_Oscar spread a map of Southern California across Jaime's kitchen table. "Intel reports indicate terrorists have planted a bomb somewhere in this section of the San Gorgonio Pass."_

_Jaime's face paled instantly. "That's where half a dozen different fault lines meet up," she told Steve._

_Oscar nodded. "Exactly. And it gets worse. Data on the device and its detonator indicate that it could be nuclear."_

_"Oh, no!" Jaime felt Steve's arm tighten around her waist as she considered what that could mean. "Setting off an explosion there – any explosion..." she could barely form the words._

_"Would be beyond catastrophic," Oscar concluded for her. "It's due to detonate at midnight tonight."_

_Steve looked at his watch. It was almost 8:30. "It'll take at least an hour to get there. That only leaves me a little more than two hours to find -"_

_"Leaves **us**," Jaime interrupted._

_"Not this time, Jaime," Steve insisted. "This is way too dangerous."_

_"So I should just sit here and wait to see if I get blown into bits?" Jaime shook her head._

_"Oscar can get you to somewhere safe."_

_"No. Try again, Austin," she insisted. "I can hear the detonator; without me, you'll never find it in time. I'm going with you."_

_The sound of a chopper landing in the driveway interrupted their argument. 'Your ride is here," Oscar told them quietly._

_Jaime and Steve spent the first half of the chopper ride going over a topographical map, deciding where a bomb was most likely to have been placed, and where the safest nearby spot was, so they could hit the ground running. The pilot was going to hover but not land, and return for them when he received their datacom signal. In the meantime, they would be alone in a vast, rocky wasteland with a live nuclear warhead. Once their plans were complete, they pushed the map away and leaned into each other's embrace, holding each other close for what they hoped would not be the last time._

_When they reached their designated area, they pulled close together and threw all of their passion and emotion into a single kiss. They weren't voicing the words, but their eyes spoke volumes about their feelings, and they shared one more lingering gaze before jumping together onto the rocks below._

_After a pause to get their bearings, Steve began to scope out the landscape while Jaime closed her eyes to listen for the faint buzz/tick sound of the detonator. After a few minutes, she shook her head. "Nothing," she whispered. Grabbing Steve's hand in the dark, she moved slowly across the rocks and crevices, trying to be aware of every nuance of sound and wishing she wasn't scared out of her mind. If any sort of a bomb went off at this point, where the San Andreas Fault met most of the other major fault lines, there'd be literally nothing left, so she reasoned that the terrorists themselves had to be long gone. That was why she didn't notice footsteps, blending in so well with Steve's and her own._

_Floodlights suddenly flashed on, illuminating their surroundings, which at that moment included gunmen advancing toward them from every direction. One man stepped away from the circle and moved quickly toward the shocked and completely ambushed couple. His lips curled into a sneer. "Hello, Cyborgs."_

_Jaime and Steve glared at him in silence, and Jaime snaked an arm around Steve's body – not for comfort or affection, but to press the 'Emergency' button on his datacom. Accomplishing this, she stepped away from him and toward the apparent leader of the group._

_"Stay right where you are, Jaime," the man snarled. The bitterness and familiarity with which he said her name made Jaime take a cautious, closer look. The man's hair was tucked into a knit cap, pulled low over his forehead and his eyes were black with anger and hatred, but Jaime was startled – and frightened – to see that she knew those eyes very well._

_"Chris? What the hell...?" She took another step toward him with widened eyes, but the man she'd once thought she loved raised his gun with one hand and shoved her roughly with the other – ironically sending her reeling backwards, directly into Steve's arms._

_"Isn't that a pretty picture?" Williams jeered as Steve helped Jaime regain her footing on the craggy terrain. "And a very lucrative one for me, I might add. I knew Goldman would send at least one of you to take care of a threat this big, but two for the price of one...it must be my lucky day." He shook his head in mock sadness. "You made a big mistake, Darling," he told Jaime. "I really did love you; I still love you."_

_"And you're expressing that love with a bullet?" Steve challenged, his hands balled into fists of rage._

_"I haven't shot her, have I?" Chris snapped. "The money I'll make when my friends here take possession of you - and later, of her, too - will be at least a little compensation for having my heart ripped out and trampled in the dust."_

_"Chris..." Jaime said softly, falling silent when Steve shook his head._

_"Williams, if you love her like you say you do," Steve ventured, "then let her go. You know better than most people what these men will do to us. Can you really let that happen to the woman you love?" He took a step toward Chris, and was halted by more than a dozen raised weapons. Williams aimed his own gun at Steve's chest and was about to pull the trigger when a low beep from the datacom grabbed his attention._

_"Put your radio on the ground Austin," he commanded. Steve didn't comply, and Chris turned the gun toward Jaime. "Do it now, or watch her die." Reluctantly, Steve placed the device on the rocks and stepped back to stand with Jaime. Before another word could be spoken, Williams fired a single shot that blew the datacom into pieces._

_Immediately, the ground beneath their feet buckled and began to shake._

Chris's team of buyers had deserted him at the first rumblings from below ground, and while an OSI chopper hovered overhead, dangling a rope to Jaime and Steve, Chris's attempt to thwart their escape had caused him to lose his footing and fall into a crevice. They had no choice but to leave him behind. Williams had been presumed dead, but had been found (and saved) by Marchetti, securing himself a partner in crime for the next attempt at revenge – where they'd hooked Jaime to the wires and nearly killed her.

Jaime leaned into Steve's arms to try and stop herself from shaking. She looked up at Steve sadly. "If Chris caused all of this with what he did...then it's all my fault!"

- - - - - -


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Steve's heart ached for what his wife was going through. "Jaime, if the quake centered at San Gorgonio, it would be because that's where the San Andreas meets up with all those other fault lines. Chris's actions wouldn't have caused all of this, but even if he was responsible, _**no way**_does that make it your fault."

Jaime clung to him wordlessly, still trying to rein in her emotions before Paar returned. Steve could feel her trembling slightly as she forced herself not to cry. He gently rubbed her back and simply held her until she finally pulled away, clear-eyed and calm, to face Paar who was on his way back. Husband and wife kept a supportive arm around each other, for safety and for comfort.

"Change of plans," Paar told them briskly. "They need you back at OSI Headquarters. Something about a security breach."

"Great," Steve muttered, then collected himself. "Alright; tell them we're on our way." He and Jaime headed back toward the chopper. Before they took off, Steve remembered to check in with Oscar.

"We're on our way to OSI to take care of a breach in security,"Steve told their boss via the datacom.

Oscar was quiet for a moment. "I don't know anything about a security breach!" he bristled. "Why wasn't I notified? I should've been the first person informed." He sighed, realizing that, for the moment, he was not the person in charge anymore. "Alright; keep me posted and let me know exactly what's going on."

"Will do," Steve promised. After clicking off the datacom, he reached over to gently squeeze Jaime's hand and brush the lone tear from her eye. "Are you ok?" he asked, very quietly.

Jaime nodded, and very nearly managed a smile. "We have to get going..."

"Sweetheart, you don't have to do this. Why don't I take you back to Edwards? You've already been through way too much -"

"No – I wanna do this. People need our help – and we _need _to find Michael. Or...let him find us..."

"That's what I'm worried about; if anything happened to you, I wouldn't be able to -"

"Steve, we have to take off before we can actually get there. And...I'm ok."

Reluctantly, Steve took the chopper back up into the air. Jaime was eerily silent for most of the flight, except for a few worrisome little sighs that she was unable to hide.

"How does your arm feel?" Steve asked her as he brought them in for a landing. "Any stiffness?"

"No; I think it's ok."

"It's only a temporary patch job, you know. Rudy'll have to work on it eventually."

Jaime smiled – a real one, this time. "But it's an excellent patch job, Doctor Austin. How's your head?"

"It just has woodpeckers pounding away in there now, instead of jackhammers," he joked. Jaime didn't laugh. Once they were safely on the ground, he turned to gaze at Jaime with serious eyes. "Remember that we promised Rudy we'd stick together. No going off on your own and playing hero, ok?"

"Who, me?" They shared a brief but very sweet kiss before hopping out of the helicopter, where Russ stood waiting for them. The first thing they noticed were three large, sturdy-looking trailers that had been parked out in the clear, open field area and now seemed to be a hub of new activity.

Russ was Oscar's right-hand man, and he now had the stature of one in charge. Jaime thought to herself that she could almost see Oscar's 'worry lines' beginning to sprout on Russ's forehead.

"I've got an administrative area set up back here, behind the hangars," he told the Austins. "The first trailer has a phone line that still works – for emergency and security use only. The second trailer is for conferences, meetings and things of that nature -"

"You're starting to sound more like Oscar every minute," Jaime interjected.

"Thank you. Now, the third trailer -"

"What's with the armed guards?" Jaime asked, looking at the last trailer.

"Right now, we have a prisoner."

Steve's outlook brightened considerably. "You caught Marchetti?"

Russ shook his head. "Sorry – no. This person came to us for protection, actually turned herself over to us -"

"A woman?" Steve repeated. His face blanched as a possibility hit him. "Callahan?"

"Yes," Russ confirmed, eying them both carefully.

"Well, I have no desire to see her," Steve insisted, "and Jaime certainly doesn't need the stress right now." He pulled his wife a little closer with an arm snaked around her waist as he once again assumed a guard dog attitude.

"Is she the security breach?" Jaime wondered. "What did she do?"

"There is no security breach," Russ admitted. "I had to tell Paar that, for the moment, until we know what's really going on. That's why I need the two of you here; she may be startled enough by seeing you that the real truth spills out before she can stop herself. Right now, Peggy is scared half out of her mind."

Steve was already shaking his head 'no'. "I'll buy the 'out of her mind' part, but 'half' is being far too charitable. The woman has lost her very last marble, Russ, and I'm not going in there to feed into her insanity." Peggy had been Oscar's loyal and extremely efficient secretary for several years, as well as one of Jaime's best friends, until the day she'd decided that Jaime was the only obstacle to fulfilling her own dreams of a future with Steve. She had instigated and financed the kidnapping that had nearly ended in Jaime's death.

Jaime placed a gentle hand on Steve's arm. "Let's hear the rest of it first," she suggested. "Russ...?"

"I spoke with Oscar a few minutes ago, and he's fully aware of the situation now. He'll be notifying Jack Hansen in DC, whom I expect will be flying out here immediately."

"Russ," Steve demanded, growing impatient, "_what happened?_"

"Peggy tells me that Chris Williams is alive and virtually uninjured. He and Marchetti are free – and they're both well-armed. She also claims that Deputy Director Paar tried to kill her."

"Jaime, I want you to stay out here with Russ," Steve told her. "You don't need to be exposed to this lunatic."

"Don't call her that!" Jaime said sharply. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember the word 'obey' being a part of our wedding vows."

"She's not the person you used to know," Steve insisted, very softly. "Not anymore. And she is certainly not a friend."

"She's in pain, Steve, and she's in trouble!" Jaime turned to Russ. "I wanna talk to her alone first."

"Out of the question!" Steve said, not at all quietly. "We go in together, as a team, or not at all!"

"Deal," Jaime answered, smiling since this was what she'd wanted all along. "Let's go, Partner."

- - - - - -


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The trailer-turned-holding cell was furnished with several padded, comfortable-looking chairs and a sofa, but Peggy Callahan, cuffed by one wrist to one of the chairs, did not seem the least bit relaxed or comfortable. Her back was to the trailer door, and she didn't look up or react when Steve opened it and stepped inside. He noticed that as adamant as Jaime had been about going in with him, she hung back just a bit, clinging tightly to his arm.

"Hello, Peggy," he said, as civilly as he could manage.

"Why are you here, Steve?" she asked in a hoarse, miserable voice.

"They didn't tell you we were coming?"

"_We_?" Now, Peggy turned to look, and Jaime, too, finally stepped into the trailer.

"Hi, Peggy." Jaime took a seat on the sofa, directly across from her former friend, with Steve sticking very close to her side.

"Jaime!" Tears welled in the ex-secretary's eyes. She'd obviously not been prepared for this. "Jaime...I...about what happened, I..."

Jaime shook her head. "There's no time to re-hash that now. What happened today, and where are Michael and Chris?"

"I don't know where they went – I swear they never told me! But...I will tell you everything I do know." Peggy took a deep breath and shuddered visibly. "They'd both been trying all along to con Paar, and -"

"Michael and Chris?" Steve clarified.

"Yes. They tried to buy their way out first, and when that didn't work, they started working on his head, conning him. They wanted me to help – I guess to try and charm the guy, I don't know – but I didn't want any part of it and they eventually left me alone."

"Go on," Jaime prompted gently, handing her a tissue.

"Well, Michael especially thought that Paar was turning, that they 'had' him. He kept saying it over and over - 'He's in our pocket. He's ours now.' Then, this morning, when the first quake hit..." Peggy stopped for another deep breath, closing her eyes at what was clearly a terrible memory. "I heard Paar tell them that now was their chance, that they should hurry up and go, and he opened the gate to the stairway for them -"

"Wait a minute!" Steve interrupted. "Are you telling us that they didn't escape when their cells were damaged? Paar _let them go_?"

Peggy nodded. "And he told them they knew where to find the supplies and that there was plenty of ammo there, too."

"What happened next?" Jaime prompted.

"Paar came and got me – he had a gun – and he made me get into Chris's cell. He handcuffed me to the bench and started tossing rocks and pieces of wood and stuff in there. And then he raised the gun...he was going to shoot me! There was another quake and the ceiling started coming down, and I didn't see Paar anymore, so when the bench broke loose, I just ran. I knew that made me an escaped convict, but...he was about to kill me! I just ran."

"You must have been terrified," Jaime empathized.

Peggy nodded. "I didn't want to run away from custody – I deserve to go to prison for what I did – so I came here and when I couldn't find Oscar, I turned myself in to Russ."

"You did the right thing," Jaime told her.

"You two shouldn't be out where they can find you," Peggy added, finally looking directly at the Austins with wide, frightened eyes. "They want you, Jaime, and they'll kill Steve to get to you."

- - - - - -

Steve and Jaime left the trailer and Russ urgently motioned them over to trailer number one. "Oscar's on the line for a phone conference," he told them.

Once they were inside and the three of them were alone with Oscar (via the phone speaker), Jaime began the discussion. "Oscar?"

"Yes; I can hear you just fine. Jaime, are you and Steve alright?"

"We're ok," she answered, holding her husband's hand. "We need to have Paar picked up and held for questioning right away."

"So you believe her, then?" Oscar queried.

"Absolutely."

"Steve?" Oscar asked.

"I don't _think_ she was lying...but what if she's part of the plan, meant to lead us off-course? The whole thing could be a set-up."

"I think Peggy's on the level," Jaime added. "I know how much she cares about Steve. She wouldn't lie about this; not when it involves him."

"You're probably right, Babe, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious, either. We still need Paar's input." Oscar agreed. "Russ?"

"I'm already on it," the Assistant-In-Charge replied. "We don't want to tip our hand before Hansen gets here, though, so Paar is being told we're holding him for his own safety."

"Good thinking," Oscar told him. "Excellent job. Now, as for the two of you -"

"We'll stay together," Steve volunteered, "and we'll keep both you and Russ informed."

"I want them to stay here," Russ insisted, "where we can keep them safe, at least until Hansen arrives and Paar can be thoroughly interrogated."

"Good luck with that," Oscar said with an ironic chuckle. His voice was beginning to grow audibly weaker. "These two are the renegades of our fleet, Russ, but their instincts are usually good. Steve, Jaime...take care of each other and I'll talk to you soon, alright?"

"We will, and you listen to your doctor and get some rest, ok?" Jaime answered. She and Steve got up and headed back out to the chopper.

Russ sighed. "Oscar, why do I get the feeling they just out-voted me?"

"Welcome to the club, my friend."

- - - - - -

Oscar sighed and leaned back against his pillow. "Pain?" Rudy asked him.

"Rudy, at times like this, maybe those two should be locked up for their own safety."

"Granted, they don't always listen like they should," the doctor allowed, "but they're the best you've got and besides, where would you put them that they couldn't get out of?"

"Exactly the problem. I just don't like the idea of the two of them out there with no back-up, going on the word of a woman who tried to have them killed, and looking for two armed idiots who could be gunning for them behind the next rock."

"They'll be ok," Rudy told him, hoping he sounded more certain than he felt. "So, you don't believe what Peggy told them?"

"The Callahan who worked for me would've laid down her life to protect her friends," Oscar said sadly, "but the person Steve and Jaime just talked with...she's a stranger now, Rudy."

"Maybe she's finally coming back to her senses."

"Just the same, I hope Jaime and Steve took what she said for what it's worth – which is unfortunately next to nothing now."

"They'll be ok," Rudy repeated, as much to himself as to Oscar. In the meantime, all they could do was wait...and hope.

- - - - - -


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Steve made himself comfortable in the pilot's seat, then realized he had absolutely no idea where they should be going. "Suggestions...?" he asked, turning to Jaime. His heart panged with guilt; she looked utterly exhausted. "Sweetheart, why don't I take you back to get some rest?"

"I'll be fine. We just have to get started on Plan A. Um...what IS Plan A?" Her face was pale, but her voice was strong and determined. Steve knew better than to argue.

"Well, you know these two a little better than I do, so -"

"Not anymore."

"Where do you think they'd go, to regroup and make plans?"

"If they're looking for us," Jaime theorized, "probably not very far. With everything that's happening, it wouldn't be too hard to just blend into the chaos; they're probably a lot closer than we realize."

As if to emphasize what Jaime had said about chaos, the ground began to rumble again. Steve reached over to hold Jaime, who willingly leaned into him. It was quicker this time around, and not as intense, but he felt her trembling even after the earth returned to normal.

"Aftershock," Jaime said, once it was over. "We'd better see if everyone's alright." She was still halfway over into Steve's seat, hanging onto him tightly.

Steve kissed her softly, for reassurance, and picked up his datacom. "The trailers look ok. I'll call Russ." He switched the device to 'on'. "Russ, it's me – any further damage?"

It took a minute, but the datacom crackled to life. "No – we're fine. I guess we're getting used to it by now."

Jaime looked out the window to her right and urgently poked Steve's arm. "Steve – look!"

"Russ, you're not as fine as you think," Steve said quickly. "The rubble piles are on fire!" He and Jaime virtually flew out of the chopper, meeting Russ at the line of trees that separated the trailers from the rubble. It wouldn't take long for the fire to reach the trees; they were suddenly no longer safe or secure.

"There's no water source," Russ said, thinking out loud. "The hydrants broke in the first quake, and the second one buried them. Charlie!" he called to one of the security guards, "we have to move the trailers out of here! Head west, away from the epi-center, and as soon as we find an open field, that'll have to be home, for now."

Steve nodded. "Where do you want us?"

"You may as well keep on with what you were doing. I'd like to have those two off the streets almost as much as you would."

Steve took Jaime's hand and they headed back aboard the Medivac. Immediately, he got it off the ground, seeming to have a concrete destination in mind now.

"Where are we headed first?" Jaime asked.

"Backs to Edwards."

"Steve!"

"No, I'm not gonna leave you there. I'm hoping Rudy might have at least a little insight to offer about Michael."

"Good idea," Jaime agreed.

"I have 'em once in awhile." He gave his wife a lopsided little grin and a wink before turning his attention completely toward getting the chopper to the Air Force base.

"Off-hand, I'm not too sure where Michael would go," Rudy told them, "but I know where the two of you are going." He pointed across the ward to the two vacant beds. "You both could use a good night's sleep."

"But -" Jaime protested.

Rudy pulled himself up to as close as he could get to full height in a hospital bed. "_Young Lady,_" he said in a stern voice. "_Bed. Now._" He dropped the tough facade and smiled warmly. "Meanwhile, I'll give your question some thought, and we can talk first thing in the morning."

Oscar, who had been lying down but was wide awake, had to put in his two cents' worth as well. "You'll be able to speak with Hansen before you go back out; he may have a lead for you, or at least some ideas. Rudy's right – you both look long overdue for some bed rest."

Jaime sighed, but realizing some crisp clean sheets and a pillow would feel mighty good, gave up her argument, kissed her husband, and willingly followed her doctor's orders. Steve wasn't far behind, and both Austins were asleep almost before their heads hit the pillows.

Jaime and Steve woke up just before dawn, to the thunderstorm that was Jack Hansen. "Whole state of California is hell in a hand basket, my deputy director is in OSI custody and I have no idea what is going on!"

"Well, good morning to you, too," Steve said laconically.

"I don't like not being in the loop!" Hansen complained.

"What we know, you know, Jack," Oscar told him wearily. He didn't look like he'd gotten much rest, and Rudy knew it would take a lot more than a good, strong pain shot to help Oscar at this point. He needed surgery; his legs wouldn't wait much longer.

"Oscar, lie down and wait for the medics – please?" Rudy sat up and glared at Jack, as if daring him to bother 'his' patient. "Jack, there hasn't been any further information from Russ at OSI because they had to evacuate last night when what used to be our building caught fire. You're just going to have to wait with the rest of us. In the meantime, how about simmering down a few notches? You aren't doing anyone any good storming around here like a battalion of jackasses."

From her bed on the other side of the ward, Jaime stifled a giggle. Rudy was in rare form. Steve winked at her behind the NSB Director's back before growing serious.

"Has Paar tried to contact you yet, Mr. Hansen?"

"I just landed a few minutes ago."

Steve nodded. "Jaime and I plan to try and find Williams and Marchetti today, but we don't even know where to begin looking. We were hoping we could pick your brain a bit -"

"I brought the NSB's file on Williams; we don't have much of anything on Marchetti," Hansen replied.

"What can you tell us about Chris?" Jaime asked softly.

"Aside from his past relationship with you, I assume?" Hansen shot back. When Rudy and Steve both looked like they wanted to punch him, Hansen quickly went on. "Williams was CIA for nearly nine years. He specialized in covert operations – working deep undercover – so he knows how to stay hidden when he has to."

"Great," Steve groaned.

"You aren't going to find him unless he _wants _to be found," Hansen added.

"So we give him a reason to surface, then," Jaime suggested.

"My wife will NOT be the bait for a psychotic killer!" Steve protested.

Jaime frowned. "If Peggy could be trusted -"

"Which she can't!" Steve said emphatically.

"Just wondering if she could get word to Chris and Michael that we're onto them; maybe draw them closer..."

"We can't rely on Callahan. She's no more stable than they are," Steve insisted.

The phone that the Base Commander had agreed to leave at Oscar's bedside rang, interrupting the minor squabble. Oscar groaned slightly as he reached over to answer it. "Oscar Goldman speaking." The room fell silent, waiting for whatever news was on its way. "I'm sorry; could you repeat that, please? I see. Alright – thank you."

Oscar hung up the phone and, with great effort, sat up. "Paar was taken into custody about an hour ago," he told everyone. "A few minutes ago, when they were bringing him to our temporary Headquarters, he was shot in the head by a high-powered rifle. Williams and Marchetti are very close – they're right up in the hills, and they're shooting to kill."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"So much for getting Paar's version," Jaime groused, more angry than frightened.

"Exactly the point," Steve told her. "Also exactly why you're not leaving this room until I can bring those two idiots down."

"Great idea!" Jaime replied. "Let's send the one Peggy said they're gunning for – all alone – to look for them!"

"A-hem!" Hansen said, a little too loudly. "Since when is the deployment of operatives left up to the operatives to decide, Goldman?"

"Welcome to Los Angeles, Jack," Oscar said, stretching out in his bed and trying to find a comfortable position. "How about if you tend to NSB matters, since you have no second-in-command anymore, and let me worry about OSI personnel?"

A minor aftershock, barely enough to rattle the cups on the bedside tables, was over in seconds. Hansen's eyes grew wide as he grasped around for something to hold onto. "Doorway – it's safest in the doorway, right?" he said quickly.

"That's a myth," Jaime informed him. "Anyway, it's over now, but if we get hit with another bad one, the best thing to do is get under a desk or a table. You'll be safest there."

"Thank you," Hansen replied. "You've lived here all your life?"

"Yep; that's why I don't get so scared anymore. You just have to hang on, protect your head and hope for the best."

"And while we're all hoping for the best," Steve interjected, "are Williams and Marchetti still shooting, going the sniper route now?"

"I don't believe so," Oscar told him. "From what Russ said, they only fired one shot."

"They wanted Paar out, and they got him," Jaime concluded.

"Exactly."

Steve was already getting out of bed. "They've obviously got night-vision scopes, so it'll be tough to sneak up on them. I'm going up there before they decide to take anyone else out."

"Correction – WE are going up there," Jaime added, less than one step behind him.

"Not this time, Jaime."

"Well, you're not going out there alone, and no one else can keep up."

"I'm going to parachute in..." Steve said, hoping to dissuade her.

"Then, so am I."

"Not a good plan," Hansen pointed out. "While you're drifting to the ground, you become helpless, hanging targets."

"You got a better idea?" Steve retorted.

"We could burn them out."

Jaime shook her head. "There are enough fires out there now. If we go up there over land, from a point where they aren't expecting us to start out, we might have a chance."

"That's probably your best option," Oscar agreed.

"I have one other idea," Jaime continued. Everyone turned to listen. "I've still got that tracking device, and you could wire me for sound then I could head up alone – in plain sight -"

"Wait a minute," Steve argued. "_That _is _not _happening!"

"Just let me finish. You know they'll come to me. When they do, I can keep them occupied while you get the location and send in the troops – a whole army's worth if you want."

"NO. WAY." Steve told her firmly.

"It would only be a few minutes, and from what Peggy said, you're the one they wanna kill, not me."

Steve put both of his hands on Jaime's shoulders, trying to stop her in her tracks. "Sweetheart, I can't stand to even think about what they'd be planning to do to you..."

"It would be the quickest way to find them! Otherwise, you and I would just be wandering around up there, waiting for one of 'em to take a potshot."

"I can't stand the thought of you being in their hands for even a second," Steve said quietly. "I'd rather go myself."

"That wouldn't bring 'em out; they'd just shoot you."

"She may be right, Pal," Oscar agreed reluctantly. "I don't like you handing yourself over to them, either, though, Babe. There has to be another way to approach this."

Jaime stood firm. "We're pretty much fresh outta options – and time. They _have _to be stopped! If the tracking device is activated before I go up there, it would only be a few minutes before Steve and the troops come in and get me. I _**want **_to do this!" Her eyes, when she gazed into Steve's, were loving but determined. "Yeah," she added, answering his unspoken question, "it does scare the hell outta me, but it needs to be done, so we can get on with other things - like rescuing and rebuilding!" Jaime took a deep breath. "So unless someone has a better plan, let's get going!"

- - - - - -

One of the Base's top pilots was recruited to fly Steve, Jaime and Jack Hansen (via helicopter) to a smaller field about a mile from the OSI trailers, where a car was waiting for them. Jaime was the last one to board the chopper, since Rudy had insisted on personally checking her over from his hospital bed before allowing her to leave. Steve loaded the tracking equipment onto the chopper to give his wife time alone with Rudy and Oscar.

"You know, you can still change your mind, Honey," Rudy reminded her. "This is so risky."

"I need to do this, Rudy," Jaime insisted. "I'll be ok."

Rudy finished his physician's duties and the friend in him took over. "Steve said you feel responsible for the earthquake -"

"Steve has a big mouth."

"You know that isn't true, don't you? What Chris did at San Gorgonio probably had no bearing on what happened yesterday."

"Probably...?"

"Even if it did, you can't control his actions and you are certainly not to blame for what he did."

"I need this to be over, before any more lives are lost." Jaime gave Rudy and Oscar each a kiss on the cheek and headed toward the door. "I'll see you soon," she told them, instead of 'goodbye'.

- - - - - -

The flight was short and relatively silent. While Steve still adamantly disagreed with Jaime's plan and her decision to go ahead with it, he spent these few minutes holding her close, well aware that it might be the last time. The pilot landed as close as possible to the waiting car and the trio quickly got inside where they were shielded from view by the darkened windows. When they pulled up to the trailers and got out, Jaime and Steve both stopped, Steve to scan the hills and Jaime to listen.

"I don't see anything. Just downed trees, some brush – no people," Steve noted.

Jaime put a hand on his arm. "They're up there, alright. I just heard Michael say 'There they are. I knew they'd come.' Steve...I love you."

"Wait," he pleaded, "we should check in with Russ first."

"You go ahead, and keep watching the tracker. And – don't worry." With one more kiss, Jaime bid her husband goodbye, stepped around the other end of the trailer and headed resolutely up toward the hills.

"Brave wife you've got there, Steve," Russ said, opening the trailer door. "Her wire's coming in loud and clear. Perfect reception."

"Here's the tracker," Steve told him, setting the box on the conference table and sitting down next to the speaker. Russ was right – the reception was excellent. He could hear everything: instead of merely tempting fate, Jaime was giving it a helping hand.

"Michael? Chris?" Jaime called to them in a clear, steady voice. "Here I am; let's get this over with!"

- - - - - -


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Jaime's heart was pounding so hard that she wondered if Steve could hear it over the wire. She didn't hear any sign of the two men, just the wind, the crackling of distant fires and the wail of multiple sirens – far fewer than the day before, but still out in full force. Even in the unpopulated hills, it was obvious that something catastrophic had taken place. Small trees were uprooted, lying with mounds of rocks and brush at the bottom of each dip in the land. Jaime shivered, knowing that somewhere very nearby, two men (who no longer had full control of their minds) were silently waiting for her.

"This is what you wanted, isn't it?" she called out to them. "Here I am." The wind howling plaintively was the only reply. "I know you're here; I heard you talking. You wanna talk to me? Grab me? _Kill me? _Let's get on with it!"

Back in the trailer, Steve flinched visibly at the words 'kill me'. He held his breath but heard no gunshot and no voice other than Jaime's. His heart was gripped by an icy-cold fear. Why had he ever agreed to this? He hadn't really, but short of grabbing his wife and refusing to let her go, there would've been no way to stop her.

"I don't see any sign of them, Steve," he heard her whisper quietly. "But – I do see a chopper. It's on the ground, about a mile back from the trailers."

Steve quickly looked toward Russ, who shook his head. "Not one of ours," he said softly.

Why hadn't they wired her to be able to hear them, as well? There'd been no time. Thinking quickly, Steve poked his head out the trailer door (which faced away from the hills) and, knowing Jaime was listening for any type of sound, whispered to her: "Can you hear me?"

"I hear you," came the very quiet reply over the speaker.

"Jaime, the chopper isn't ours. Be very careful, Sweetheart."

"Gotcha. Thanks," she replied, resuming her search. "Michael? Chris? I don't have the troops with me, or even Steve. I'm by myself, and I just want to end this, so -"

Jaime's voice abruptly dropped off, followed by the sound of her body falling to the ground, the brush crackling beneath her. Steve immediately sailed out of the trailer and up the hillside, without stopping to think or plan. He found her easily, having kept an eye on the tracking box, and was just bending down to remove the dart from her neck when his own world went dark.

- - - - - -

Jaime woke up to a world that was spinning around her too fast to make any sense out of it. She was surrounded by trees – huge, tall trees, not little broken ones – and she heard voices that sounded like they were coming from very far away, though mountains of jelly. The words were distorted and yet crystal clear.

Steve was angry – very upset – and arguing with...someone. "You can't just leave her there! Please – what if the fire spreads? They'll never find her in time! You bastards scrambled the trackers!"

Wha-a-at? Who was he talking to? "If you want, we can just kill her now." _Chris. _Steve was arguing with Chris. Jaime tried to call out to her husband, but there was something in her mouth. It took her fogged mind a few seconds to realize she'd been gagged, and tied, too – with thick heavy rope.

That didn't seem to be a problem; she'd just snap the ropes like fishing twine...if only she wasn't so sleepy. As her consciousness faded away, Jaime picked up the sound of a helicopter taking off, and she smelled the thick black smoke of a fire.

- - - - - -

When Jaime opened her eyes again, Russ was standing over her with a stricken, worried look on his face. He had just removed the last of her bindings. "I found her!" he was yelling. "She's alive!" They definitely weren't on the hillside any longer. Jaime was confused; where was she...and where was Steve?

"Steve...?" she called softly. She tried to get up, but Russ put a steadying hand on her shoulder.

"Take it easy, Jaime, just sit tight. There's an ambulance coming, so we can have you checked out."

"I'm...ok," she insisted weakly.

"You've been drugged, and I'm not sure what else they might have done to you," Russ told her in a gentle voice. "You were also breathing in a lot of smoke." As if on cue, an ambulance screamed to a stop and the medics ran into the grove of trees where Jaime was lying.

"Which hospital should we try first?" one of the overwhelmed men asked Russ. "None of them are really taking any more patients -"

"Take her to Edwards Air Force Base. There's a special medical unit set up there, and her doctor is waiting."

Jaime was eased onto a stretcher, but reached for Russ's arm before they could carry her off. "Russ...where is Steve?"

"We're looking for him, Jaime. We'll keep you posted."

Tears flooded her eyes and she began to cough, gasping for air as an oxygen mask was fitted over her face. Soon, her eyes drifted closed once more, and she rode to the Base lying still and silent on the stretcher.

- - - - - -

Rudy – his arm and leg now suitably set in casts – insisted on being taken outside in a wheelchair to meet the ambulance. More medical equipment had been flown in, and a make-shift hospital was being constructed in one wing of the Base, to Rudy's exacting specifications.

In spite of having been fully briefed, he was shocked when he saw his patient wheeled out on a stretcher. Jaime's face was an ashen shade of gray as her lungs struggled for air, and once they got her inside and he could examine her more fully (aided by a surgical team flown in from Washington), he found her left arm and portions of her waist and hips were badly rope burned. She'd been tied very tightly, the rope having apparently been looped multiple times around her entire body. She began calling out very softly for Steve before she was even fully awake. Rudy's heart broke at the knowledge that he'd be the one to give her the bad news.

Jaime was still only semi-conscious when they managed to get her breathing stabilized so she could be moved back to her bed in their mini-ward. Oscar, although fully medicated now, raised his head when he heard them come in. Rudy moved to his bedside while the medics got Jaime situated.

"How is she Rudy?" he whispered.

"You're supposed to be sleeping yourself," Rudy pointed out. "She's...ok. Inhaled a lot of smoke, but we were very lucky Russ and his team got to her when they did. The fire was getting pretty close."

"Any word on Steve?"

Rudy shook his head sadly. "Nothing yet. Russ said he'd stop by in bit, to see if Jaime remembers anything that might help." He sighed deeply and looked over at the patient whom he loved like a daughter. "How do I tell her, Oscar? I just don't know the right words to say _Your husband is gone; we don't know where he is_."

- - - - - -


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Jaime's head tossed back and forth on the pillow. "Steve..." she cried softly, not asleep but not yet quite awake. Rudy waited patiently at her bedside. He was feeling a little better, himself, with his broken bones having been set, and was able to hoist himself out of his wheelchair to perch on the edge of Jaime's bed and comfort her more directly, holding her hand as she gradually came to her senses.

Finally, her eyes fluttered open and were instantly filled with tears. "They took Steve...didn't they?" she sobbed quietly.

"We think so, Honey," Rudy answered, gently smoothing the hair from her eyes. "Russ is here; he has every available unit out looking for Steve, and so do the NSB and the FBI, but Russ needs to ask you a few questions. Do you feel up to it, or do you want him to wait until morning?"

Jaime began to try and sit up in the bed, but she was still weakened from her ordeal and from smoke inhalation and Rudy was able to ease her back down with only one arm. "Rudy," she protested, I have to help! We have to find Steve – they're gonna kill him!"

"Jaime, the best way for you to help Steve right now is to rest and get your strength back. You wouldn't be more than two feet out the door before you'd be out cold again. Probably tomorrow, you'll be able to get up and out, but for now, do you think you can talk to Russ?"

Defeated by her own traumatized body, Jaime laid back on her pillow and nodded. Rudy looked up to where Russ was waiting just outside the door and motioned him in. He remained vigilantly at Jaime's side while Oscar's second-in-command began his questions.

"Hi, Jaime," Russ said softly. "What do you remember about what happened today, when you went looking for Marchetti and Williams?"

Jaime took a few breaths to get her emotions under control. "I was talking to Steve over the wire, and I saw a helicopter..." She closed her eyes, straining for every detail she could pull from her memory. "I heard Steve tell me it wasn't ours, and I called out to Michael and Chris again, 'cause I knew they were there -"

"Did you hear them, or see them?" Russ asked.

"No, but I heard them when we first got to the trailer. I didn't hear voices, or footsteps or anything when I was up there looking..."

"Ok; then what happened?"

"I...don't know. I felt something like a real bad bee sting on my neck, and...I guess I passed out. The next thing I remember...I wasn't on the hill anymore. There were trees all around me. And I heard Steve, but he sounded fuzzy..."

"She was drugged," Rudy added. Russ nodded, and Jaime went on.

"He was arguing, fighting them, telling them not to leave me there. And one of them – I think it was Chris – said either that or they'd just go ahead and kill me. And then...they were gone."

"Were they in the helicopter, Jaime?" Russ probed.

"I think so. I heard one taking off and it sounded close."

"You must have been taken to the woods in the helicopter, too. Do you remember any of that, or when they were tying you up?"  
"No...I wish I did, but...no."

Rudy saw that Jaime was rapidly growing paler and her voice was fading. "Russ, I think she's had enough for right now. Maybe if she sleeps on it, she'll remember something more."

"I'll come back in the morning," Russ agreed.

"Please, Rudy – I've gotta help them find Steve! I'll go in a wheelchair if you want, or -"

"No, Jaime," the doctor told her gently. "I'm giving you a shot to help you rest, and maybe in the morning you can go back out, but tonight, it would be too risky. You can't help Steve if you collapse yourself."

Russ slipped quietly out the door as Rudy prepared to give Jaime the injection. His heart ached at the sight of her pain-filled eyes, but he did what was best for his patient, and within minutes, Jaime's eyes reluctantly closed and she drifted into a restless, dream-filled sleep.

- - - - - -

Jaime usually dreamed in full Technicolor-ed detail, and this night was no exception. Instead of dreaming in the first person, though, it was like she was watching a movie...starring herself.

They were on a helicopter, but it must have been on the ground, because no one was flying it. She was lying on the cold, metal floor of the chopper and Michael was wrapping several long, thick coils of rope around her, tying them way too tightly, but all she could do was moan softly in protest. Steve, who'd been shoved down against the wall, moved quickly to intercede, but was kept in his place when Chris put the barrel of his gun directly to Jaime's head.

"Don't try it, Colonel," he snarled. "Don't even think about it."

"He's hurting her!" Steve argued.

"I'll hurt her a lot worse if you don't sit still."

Michael finished his work with the ropes and removed a syringe from his pocket, shoving it into Jaime's left shoulder. Steve's fists clenched with rage, but he had no choice but to remain where he was. Michael returned to the co-pilot's seat and pointed his own gun at Jaime as Chris moved to fly the chopper. Within what seemed like a few minutes, they were hovering over a dense forest area, the edges of which were on fire.

Slowly, Chris brought the chopper down near the center of the trees, in a small open area, and quickly Michael opened the hatch. Jaime watched in her dream as they tossed her limp body out of the chopper onto the ground, heard Steve protest and heard the men once again threaten her life before the chopper took off, leaving her lying all alone in a burning forest.

The dream didn't end there, and Jaime tossed restlessly in her bed as her alter-ego in the dream struggled, helpless to break the ropes or slow the oncoming wall of thick, choking smoke. She saw the teams arriving, searching for her and for Steve; was she dying? The men were driven back by a wall of flame, and Jaime heard Russ yell "She's in there somewhere! Find another way through!"

The men circled around the thick grove of trees, finding a way in on the other side. Jaime watched as dream-Russ was the first one to find her, checking for a pulse before cutting the ropes that bound her as his men arrived to assist him.

Jaime awoke with a start, realizing just how close she had truly come to such a horrible end. Michael and Chris had not simply used her as bait to grab Steve and then dumped her. They had left her in that forest, tied up and helpless, fully intending for her to die. She woke up filled with new resolve, fully intending to find her husband and make two maniacs pay for everything they'd tried to steal and every second of pain and fear they'd caused.

- - - - - -


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Steve had no dreams that night, because he didn't sleep. Michael had injected him with the same drug that had weakened him so severely when they'd kidnapped Jaime and tried to electrocute her. He sat tied up in a corner, unable to break his bonds or do anything but watch his captors sleep. His mind, however, was working overtime.

The flight had been a short one; he estimated it took under two hours by chopper. Using his pilot's sense (as well as his sense of reason), Steve deduced that going east was out of the question; they'd have been flying directly toward the earthquakes' epicenter. South was unlikely, as the damage there was just too extreme for an untrained pilot like Chris to land a chopper. They had obviously not gone west or they'd have ended up over water, so they must have flown north – but to where? They'd kept him blindfolded, not allowing him to see where they were headed, and had spent most of the flight time trying to torture him mentally, jabbing straight for his heart by telling him over and over again that Jaime was dead.

"There's no way she got out of that fire alive," Michael had taunted with a cruel laugh. "How does it feel to lose the woman you loved?"

"Jaime's dead, Steve," Williams had added. "Gone from your life forever. Now you know how we feel. Nice, isn't it? She's _**dead**_."

Steve didn't know whether to believe them or not, although it seemed likely that what they said might be true. The last time he'd been allowed to look out, just before they'd blindfolded him, Steve could see the entire forest surrounding where they'd dropped Jaime, and it looked like it was completely engulfed in flames.

As he sat in this empty room, with Michael and Chris slumbering away nearby, he had nothing left to do but think. Could Jaime really be...dead?

Steve thought back to the day, not that long ago, when he'd flown clear across the country with no real reason, other than a clear and overwhelming sense that Jaime needed him. When she'd opened the door and he'd looked in her eyes, Steve knew they'd been granted a miracle. She had stood in the doorway, staring at him in stunned silence, unable to tell him the very thing she'd been trying so hard to express the right way in a letter or a phone call: her memory had returned. Here he was, in the flesh, and she was speechless...

_Once Jaime had recovered enough of her senses to grab a bottle of wine and two glasses, she and Steve moved into the living room where she relaxed on the fluffy rug in front of the fireplace and admired the rippling of his muscles as he leaned over to light the fire. Jaime found she couldn't take her eyes off of him as he stretched out comfortably next to her. When his gaze met Jaime's, Steve sensed immediately that something was different, but he let her set the mood._

_"What brings you out West?" she asked, trying to sound casual even as her heart was doing happy little back flips._

_"You," Steve said simply._

_"Me? Why?"_

_"I need a reason?"_

_"Of course not, but..." she still had not looked away, enjoying how Steve's eyes seemed to hold hers captive, drawing her closer without saying a word._

_"I can't really explain it," he began, before he, too, lost the ability to complete his sentence._

_"What?"_

_"Well, I just thought – sensed, I guess – that you needed to see me." Steve's instincts and his heart already knew exactly what was happening, but he didn't dare to let himself believe it; not yet._

_Without either of them realizing it, they'd moved so close to each other that they began to breathe in deep, perfect unison. "I...did..." was all Jaime could manage. Still she wanted – needed – to tell him all of it, the whole story. "Steve, I..."_

_Steve brushed her lips gently with one finger, and he smiled with his entire being. "Jaime," he whispered, finally daring to acknowledge what he was seeing and feeling. His lips followed, drifting across Jaime's with a feathery softness as he reached up to caress her cheek. "I already know."_

_Steve knew without question that the woman he'd just kissed was **his** Jaime – before bionic rejection took her memory and almost took her life – this was the woman with whom he'd been so deeply in love. Of course, he realized with a guilty start, this was also the woman he'd chased in the dark, through that awful storm, knowing she was in pain intolerable enough to have driven her nearly out of her mind. Directly or indirectly, he had caused that intense pain, and the very last thing he wanted to do was hurt Jaime, ever again._

_Reluctantly, Steve leaned back, forcing himself to put some distance between them. "When did you get your memory back?" he asked softly._

_"It just...happened," Jaime told him, her voice trembling almost as much as she was. "Are you...angry?"_

_Steve had assumed that she was sick or in trouble, when his instincts compelled him to fly to Ojai. This, he hadn't expected and he was touched that Jaime seemed worried about him. Love and empathy drew him close to her again, and he wrapped one gentle arm around her body. "Of course not, Sweetheart, but I can't forget what happened the last time you tried to remember 'us'. You nearly died..."_

_"I'm not trying, Steve – it's there; all of it. I just don't know what to do about it."_

_Steve brushed the hair from Jaime's face as her head drifted almost automatically onto his shoulder. He longed to kiss her again, to never stop kissing her, but his heart was whispering **wait...for now**. "I think you should have Rudy check you over," he suggested, "just to be sure everything's ok."_

_Jaime nodded as she settled into the warmth and comfort of the only pair of arms that had ever truly felt right._

_- - - - - -_

_Steve had done an utterly heroic job of hiding his feelings for the last three years, but he'd never stopped loving Jaime. Now that she was possibly coming back to him and he could let those feelings surface, the flood of emotions overwhelmed him almost as much as they did Jaime. He paced nervously in the lobby of OSI-Los Angeles, just outside of Rudy's office door, while Jaime was inside with the doctor._

_"Hey, Pal, you'll wear a hole in the carpet," a voice beside him said with an audible smile._

_"Oscar? I didn't know you were coming -"_

_"Don't worry; I'm not here to put you to work." Before Steve could ask, Oscar continued, "or Jaime, either."_

_"Good. Then why -?"_

_"Rudy and I weren't sure what was happening with Jaime. You'd already flown out, and we thought something was wrong, but you both seem happy, aside from the groove you're about to make in the floor..."_

_"Sorry," Steve said, finally coming to a full stop._

_"Is it something you can tell me about?" Oscar probed._

_Steve grinned. "Got coffee on?" By the time he and Oscar were seated in the office with steaming mugs in hand, Steve had already blurted out the whole story, unable to contain it any longer._

_Oscar beamed at his friend's sheer joy. "That's the best news I've heard in a long time! Are you sure? Is Jaime sure?"_

_"I could see it," Steve confirmed. "She didn't even have to tell me, Oscar; I just knew."_

_"And...no pain?"_

_"Not that I know of. I mean, she seems fine, but that's why I wanted her to see Rudy, just to be sure."_

_As though on cue, the doctor and his radiant patient appeared in the office doorway. Steve was instantly on his feet as Jaime moved to his side – and into his arms. Rudy nodded at Steve. "She's all yours," he proclaimed happily._

_Jaime thought nothing had ever felt as good as Steve's tender embrace, and Steve marveled at the idea that this time maybe he wouldn't ever have to let her go. Both were already oblivious to the presence of anyone else on the planet, and goodbyes weren't necessary as they seemed to float out the door._

_"Like the man said," Jaime whispered, leaning in closer as they stepped out into the sunshine, "I'm all yours."_

Steve leaned back against the wall in total despair. A love that strong, that special, wouldn't be handed back to them just to be yanked away again forever – would it? Could fate possibly be that cruel?

- - - - - -


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Jaime laid awake in the darkened ward, trying to shake off the effects of the dream. She was still wearing the oxygen mask, so she settled back onto the pillow and breathed deeply until the choking, smothering sensation went away. She could not, however, shake the effects of Rudy's sedative, and was soon fast asleep again.

This time, she dreamed of Steve and their recent life together: their wedding in the hospital chapel, with Jim and Helen beaming in the front row, had been quiet but beautiful – and united them in name the way they'd always (in one way or another) been united in spirit.

The ranch where they'd begun their married life positively radiated happiness from every corner. They'd even been talking about children, been trying, in fact, for their first in the weeks before the earthquake.

When Jaime opened her eyes again, it was morning and Rudy was hovering next to her bed in his wheelchair. He removed her oxygen mask and smiled warmly at her.

"You're looking a whole lot better this morning," he told her. "How do you feel?"

"Is Russ back yet?" Jaime asked quickly. "We've gotta find Steve."

Rudy nodded. "Back to your old self, too, I see. He just called, and he'll be here in a few minutes."

"Or right now," Russ said from the doorway.

"Did you find Steve?" Jaime said, in lieu of a greeting.

"I'm sorry, Jaime; nothing yet. But we've had teams working through the night, and more on their way from Washington."

Jaime quickly filled him in on her dream. "Chris doesn't know much about piloting a chopper," she concluded, "so they probably didn't go very far – unless they made Steve fly it." Suddenly, a light bulb turned on in her mind. "Russ, if Steve still has his datacom, do you think we could still reach him – or Chris and Michael, anyway?"

"If they're within a few hundred miles, I'm fairly certain we could," he answered. "We don't know their state of mind, though, so you'd want to proceed very carefully."

"Can I use your datacom?"

Russ handed it to her. "Maybe you'll be able to hear something in the background that could give you a clue where they are."

"That's what I'm thinking." Jaime turned the device on and tuned it to the general, furthest-reaching channel. "Steve, it's me," she said softly. "Can you hear me?"

Still tied and waiting in the corner, Steve's outlook brightened considerably when he heard the datacom crackle to life. _Jaime! She was alive! _He longed to answer her, but they'd taken his device away from him and it sat between them on the floor. Chris and Michael stirred at the sudden sound. "Steve?" Jaime persisted. "Chris or Michael...are you there?"

Chris scooped up the datacom and laughed. "Your husband won't be answering you," he said in a cruel sneer of a voice. "He's dead. You're all alone now, just like we are. And -"

Steve didn't care about possible consequences; they weren't going to play with Jaime's mind the way they'd manipulated his. "Jaime – don't believe them!" he called, as loudly as he could, while Chris was still speaking.

"Give Steve the datacom, Chris," Jaime demanded quietly.

"I don't think so."

In the corner, Steve was thinking at triple-speed. He might have only one chance, if she convinced them to let him talk to her. During the long night, when he'd had nothing more to think about, he'd scanned his memory, trying to figure out why the empty, unfurnished room looked so familiar, and he'd finally figured it out. Between the length of the flight and his memories of the past, Steve was sure he knew where they were. Would he be able to let Jaime know?

"Jaime," Michael said, grabbing the datacom, "you're never going to see him again. There's nothing you can do to stop what's going to happen. We want you to know the true meaning of heartache, and very soon, you will."

"At least let me say goodbye to her," Steve requested. "You know how much that'll tear her apart – isn't that what you want? I'll let her know I'm not coming back; I just want the chance to say it to her myself."

"That could give her a nice jolt to the heart," Chris pondered. "Alright," he said to Michael, "hold it up for him and let him say his goodbye."

Steve took a deep breath, praying silently that this would work, that Jaime would understand.

"Jaime...?" he said, very gently.

"Steve – are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

_Please understand, Jaime – it's our only chance..._"Listen, Darling," he said, very carefully, "**Can't. Answer. But. I'm. Not.**" Steve stopped speaking and broke into a very short coughing fit before continuing. "**Yours.**" He closed his eyes, trying to will her to get it. "I love you, Jaime."

"That's enough," Chris said, reaching over and wrenching the datacom away, flicking it off.

Back at Edwards, Jaime stared at the suddenly-silent datacom in confusion for a few moments, then her eyes brightened and she practically threw herself out of bed and onto her feet. "Russ – I know where they are! Let's go!"

"Whoa, there, Young Lady," Rudy said, knowing it was probably useless to try and stop her. "Can I at least check you over first?"

"You can check us both over, Rudy, when I get back with Steve!"

"Jaime, why don't you sit down and tell me what you know and we'll make our plans while Rudy is looking you over," Russ suggested.

"They're at my parents' old cabin by the lake," Jaime said, reluctantly sitting down but not slowing down.

"How do you know that?" Russ probed. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be. Russ, Steve never calls me darling, so I knew he was trying to tell me something," Jaime explained breathlessly. "The words he said, the first letters make the word 'cabin' and then he said 'yours'. It makes sense, too – it's in one of the first open areas north of here that probably escaped the damage from the quakes. Chris would want to land as soon as he found a big enough open spot, and he's been to the cabin before we emptied it out to put it up for sale. He might have even headed there on purpose, knowing it wasn't being used."

Russ nodded, suitably impressed and primed for action. "That makes sense. Rudy, how's our patient looking?"

"I'd say strong enough that we'd better not dare to try and hold her back," the doctor replied. "Great thinking, Honey," he told Jaime. "I don't know how you caught that, but...excellent work."

"Thanks. Russ, can we get a plane to get us there fast?"

"It'd be safer if I went with a team of agents; they'd shoot you on sight, Jaime – you know that."

"So I won't let them see me. I'm going, Russ, if I have to get there on my own, so you may as well take me with you. Besides, I know how to get there."

Within minutes, Russ had a team speeding to Edwards while a small plane was fueled and prepared for the flight north. He only hoped they could get there before Williams and Marchetti could carry out whatever plans they had for Steve.

- - - - - -


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

"What the hell was that, Austin?" Chris demanded, throwing the datacom to the floor in a fit of rage. "What're you trying to pull?"

Steve kept his face completely neutral and innocent. "You told me I'd never see my wife again, so I let her know I'm not hers anymore. What part of that didn't you like?"

Chris merely glared, then began to pace anxiously across the floor of the empty cabin. "You won't be our problem much longer, anyway. Maybe you should give him another shot, Michael. Where are the damn buyers?"

"We could call and find out," Michael snapped, "but you just had to bring us to an empty cabin with no telephone."

"The buyers know where we are," Chris snarled back.

"You could fly the chopper to the next town and call someone," Michael suggested. "I don't like sitting here doing nothing. It's making me real nervous."

"We don't have enough fuel left."

"Oh, that's great, Einstein! We're stuck here, then?"

"The wind was stronger than it was supposed to be – or maybe it was because of all the fires; I don't know. We used a lot more fuel than we should have, but I'll; figure something out if you shut up for five minutes and let me think!"

"You became my boss...When?" Michael yelled, his voice vibrating with anger.

Steve stayed very quiet in the corner, just taking it all in. With all of their hostility and arguing, they seemed to have forgotten about re-drugging him. He would simply bide his time until his strength came back or they killed each other, whichever came first.

- - - - - -

Jaime was terrified, but not for herself. Steve's captors had once seemed to be normal (even loving) men, but by shooting Paar they had proven themselves to be killers, soul-less and conscience-free. What if they'd already made good on their threats? Jaime couldn't bear the thought, and yet had trouble thinking of anything else. The relatively short flight seemed to take forever.

Like Steve, she spent some time reminiscing, but her thoughts took her further back in time. She thought about when they'd met as children. In spite of the fact that Steve had been in third grade and had no interest in hanging out with a tiny little girl who was only in kindergarten, Jaime knew, even then, that they were supposed to be friends; they were meant to be together. She had stubbornly persisted, making it impossible for young Steve to ignore her. Gradually, they'd grown to be close friends, and through their friendship their families became almost like one big, blended family. They took all of their summer vacations together at the cabin by the lake, and Steve and Jaime built a tree house where they would sit for hours, talking about everything and nothing at all. Steve had taught Jaime to swim in the little lake that sat just beyond the back yard.

As teenagers, they'd taken long walks through the nearby woods and laid in the grass of the big, open field, staring up at the clouds while they enjoyed the warmth they felt at just being together.

That cabin had always been a special place for both families, and Jaime ached at the thought of what might be happening to Steve at that moment in what had always been such a happy, loving place.

"We'll be landing in about five minutes," the pilot finally called back.

"Thank you," Russ told him, motioning his team to gather around him. "Jaime," he instructed, "I want you to stay back, away from the cabin, until we've neutralized Williams and Marchetti, so they can't -"

"Like hell, I will," Jaime said softly. "I'm sorry; I don't mean to be difficult, but that's my husband in there."

"I know, and he's with two men who would get great joy out of pumping you full of bullets," Russ answered grimly. "I'd prefer to avoid that."

Jaime thought for a moment. "Why don't you let me sneak up from in back, and listen to find out what's going on, and then you guys can move in, grab those two, and I'll get Steve."

"I like the listening part," Russ agreed, "but I'd really rather not have you in that cabin before we eliminate the threat to your safety." He saw the look of firm determination in Jaime's eyes, and sighed. "And...you're going in anyhow, aren't you?"

"You got it."

"Just let us go first, alright? Please?"

"Ok...probably," Jaime conceded.

- - - - - -

Jaime, Russ and a team of twelve of the OSI's top operatives gathered in the woods a short distance from the cabin. "Take your datacom, Jaime," Russ instructed. "When you get to the back of the cabin, if you're safe and you can hear them, press the yellow button and we'll hold our ground. If you get into trouble or need us to go in right away, either transmit that to us or hit the red button. If we don't hear anything at all in ten minutes, we'll assume you need help and head for the cabin."

Jaime nodded. "If we're able to sneak up and get them by surprise," she told the men, "then watch the back door but go in the front door only. The back door has screeched like a banshee for the last ten years. They'll hear it. But it could be a way out for them, so -" she looked at Russ who was watching her quietly, and realized that once she'd told them about the noisy door, these were his instructions to give. "Sorry, Russ." He smiled reassuringly at her, and Jaime breathed deeply. "Ok – I'm off, then."

"Good luck," Russ said softly.

Jaime walked silently through the outer edge of the woods until she came to the back of the cabin. She stopped to listen before stepping out of the covered area. Nothing. They were either inside...or gone. _Please, don't let us be too late! _she prayed as she moved quickly and quietly toward the rear wall. She ducked down low, out of sight of the windows and listened carefully.

"How could you be so damned stupid?!?" Michael was storming through the cabin; Jaime could hear angry footsteps as well as his rage-filled voice. She pushed the yellow button to let Russ and the team know she was there and safely eavesdropping.

Chris wasn't being too quiet, either. "If you don't shut up, I'll give you what I gave Paar!"

"I'd be surprised if you remembered to bring the bullets!"

Jaime held her breath as she heard the sound of a gun being cocked. _God, please protect him, _she thought silently. The sound of the gunshot echoed throughout the small clearing and into the woods. The datacom crackled as Russ spoke urgently (but very quietly) to her.

"Jaime, we're going in."

Jaime couldn't argue with that. There were no more sounds coming from the house, and she nearly froze in stark, raw terror, but she knew that wouldn't help Steve. While Russ and his team moved to surround the cabin, Jaime, too, made her move.

The front door opened just as the men hit the porch. Chris was pacing like a wildcat, a gun in his hand pointed into the cabin. "Don't come any closer," he warned, "or Austin gets the next bullet."

- - - - - -


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

The OSI team stormed the house with guns in firing position and orders that if either fugitive gave them an opportunity for a clean, safe shot, they were to shoot to kill. Here was Williams, by himself, directly in their line of fire, but Russ couldn't see Steve and he didn't know where Jaime was, or who – if anyone – had been shot inside the cabin.

He really had no choice. "Hold your fire!" Russ called.

"Good job, Choir Boy!" Chris chortled. His eyes had a strange, frightening glow. "What happened – OSI didn't care enough about their cyborg to send the Head Honcho?"

Russ took another step forward; he stood just feet from the porch, unflinchingly meeting Chris's gaze head-on. "That would be me."

"Well, la-dee-da – you're barely out of diapers."

"Give it up, Williams," Russ said in an even, commanding voice. "You're completely surrounded; you aren't going anywhere. If you keep dragging this out, you'll only make it worse for yourself."

Chris laughed bitterly. "I know I'm not leaving here alive. But guess what? Neither is your Colonel Austin. Hell, I might decide to take you with me, too." He whirled around to wave the gun at Russ before pointing it back into the cabin. "Stay right where you are," he called to whoever was still alive inside. "You know I'll shoot."

"Put the gun down, Chris," Russ insisted firmly. He still hadn't figured out where Jaime went. "Just drop it – now."

"I don't think so, Choir Boy. In fact, why don't you and your little play friends just back away now, real nice and slow, before I show you how this shiny toy of mine works."

"Everyone, fall back and regroup by the trees," Russ ordered over his shoulder without turning around or stepping back himself.

"You too, _Rusty._" Chris said with a sneer and a motion of the gun.

"No, Chris; I'm not leaving." Suddenly, Russ spotted Jaime, coming up over the top of the cabin's roof. He quickly averted his eyes, hoping his glance hadn't given away her position. Chris didn't seem to notice. "Why don't you let Steve go?" Russ suggested. "That'd be a step in the right direction."

"And why don't you just toddle on back to your little friends, Opie, before I have to do to you what I'm about to do to Steve?"

"If you fire that gun, you'll have one shot before a dozen shots cut you in half," Russ reasoned.

Chris shook his head. "Do you really think those plastic G-Men are gonna shoot when you're standing between them and me? Not likely. Another reason for you to step away."

Russ stood firm. "Not happening. Drop the gun, Chris. Don't make another mistake."

Chris cocked the gun and aimed straight into the cabin. "It's just too bad his sweet little wife isn't here to see this and wave bye-bye."

"Don't be so sure, Chris," Jaime said from directly above him, dropping the log she'd torn from the roof onto his gun arm just as he pulled the trigger. His arm – and the shot - went downward, and Williams leaped up in pain, bleeding from his foot.

Russ took no chances. With Chris's gun down and Chris distracted, he aimed from the side and took his best shot. One shot was all it took, and Williams went down, falling off the porch and rolling onto the grass, where he laid in a mangled heap, no longer moving. Jaime jumped easily onto the porch, landing next to Russ.

"Nice shot," she said lightly, then grew serious, placing a hand on Russ's shoulder. "There really was no other way."

Russ nodded. "I know, but thanks." He glanced into the cabin. "Let me go in first, Jaime; we don't know what's happened in there."

Then, a voice which made Jaime's eyes light up and her heart sing with joy: "Jaime? Russ?" Steve called, "I'm alright, but Marchetti...isn't."

_**"Steve!"**_ Once Jaime heard his voice, an army couldn't have held her back, and Russ was smart enough not to try. Steve had managed to untie himself, but had remained in his corner, locked into place by the threat in the doorway. He and Jaime fell into each other's arms, clinging together with such intensity that, once Russ had glanced in and seen clearly that Michael was beyond help, he remained on the porch to allow them a few minutes in private.

"Oh, God – they hurt you," Jaime said as she tenderly caressed Steve's bruised face.

"No; nothing serious." Steve pulled her as close as he could, savoring the way she felt in his arms. "When they left you in those woods, with the fire everywhere...I have never felt so helpless."

"I'm not sure how Russ found me, but he did. Steve, there was no way you could've stopped them."

"I know, but I was so worried that I'd never see you again," Steve told her, taking in every detail of her entire being as if for the very first time.

"I was so afraid they'd killed you..." Jaime admitted.

"When you got what I was trying to tell you, that's what saved me, Sweetheart. Thank you for listening so closely -"

"I knew when you called me 'Darling' that you were saying something I should pay attention to."

"I love you, Jaime, more than I could ever tell you," Steve whispered, gently caressing her face and pulling her in for a long, sweet kiss.

"You tell me every day, without even having to say it," she answered, "and I love you, too...so much..." After several long minutes of simply holding each other close, Jaime drew back to gaze into her husband's face. "What were they doing up here, anyway?"

"They said something about buyers who were meeting them here; probably still on their way."

"Maybe you should let Russ know that," Jaime suggested.

"I'd rather just stay here – and hold you. But...you're probably right."

"I usually am." Jaime grinned, and arm-in-arm, she and Steve walked out onto the porch just in time to see the OSI team emerge from the woods, dragging four hand-cuffed foreign-looking men along with them.

"I'm guessing that would be them," Steve said lightly.

Russ was finished a conversation on his datacom, then turned to the Austins. There's a Medivac on its way here from Edwards. Rudy wants to check you both over personally, right away."

"Rudy?" Jaime exclaimed. "Why can't that man stay in bed, where he belongs, and rest?"

Steve shrugged. "Maybe when he's ninety. Russ, can you get our statements later, at the Base?"

"Sure; that'd be fine. I need to check in with Oscar, so I'll be getting there right around the same time you will."

"Thanks," Steve told him. "I think Jaime and I are gonna head down by the lake over there, and relax a little while we wait for the chopper."

"Colonel Austin," Jaime said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him fully on the lips, "that's gotta be the best idea I've heard in days."

- - - - - -


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Rudy was the first doctor to arrive at the cabin, and, at Russ's request, he examined both Michael and Chris, pronouncing them dead at the scene. He hated to interrupt the happy, peaceful scene down by the lake, so he stalled for a little while, filling out the death certificates and then talking with Russ.

"Chris was the mastermind behind all of this?" he asked.

"Allegedly," Russ responded, "but he didn't think everything through. He wasn't expecting the earthquakes to give him the opening he needed, and – thank God – he just wasn't ready."

Rudy nodded. "We could've lost both of them today," he said quietly, glancing at Steve and Jaime.

"It was a really close call," Russ agreed. "They know it; they've been holding onto each other ever since Jaime ran into the cabin. I'm still amazed she was able to understand Steve's message."

"They've always had a very special relationship. I suppose I should be heading back to Edwards with my patients now." He noticed Jaime looking over at them and motioned her toward the chopper. "I won't even try to pull them apart," he told Russ, smiling.

Russ waited outside to see the Medivac lift off, then headed back into the cabin to continue his own set of reports.

"I've scheduled your surgery for tomorrow morning," Rudy told Jaime once he'd thoroughly checked over both of his patients.

"Surgery?"

"Your power pack finally got here from DC."

"Oh, that surgery. Alright" Jaime snuggled closer into Steve's arms, grateful that Rudy hadn't made them take the chopper flight on stretchers of gurneys. "Rudy ... what about Oscar? How is he?"

"Well, you know I shouldn't discuss his condition with you, since you aren't relatives -"

"Rudy," Steve interrupted, "he _has _no living relatives; we _are _his family."

"Which is why I'm going to tell you anyway," Rudy said, nodding. "Oscar is stable; his injuries are no longer life-threatening, but the prognosis on his legs isn't looking good."

"Oh, no..." Jaime sighed. Steve tightened his arms around her just slightly, knowing she needed it. "So they aren't broken in a way where they can just be set?"

"I'm afraid not, Honey," the doctor answered. "They're crushed; both of them. It's amazing that he's been conscious and functioning for the last two days, since the pain has to be unbelievable."

"Is there anything you can do?" Steve asked.

"We're exploring all of our options at the moment. I've been consulting with surgeons who've flown in from DC, London and Paris. So far, the best solutions we've come up with are to either place steel rods in his legs and hope the bones can gradually re-build themselves around that, or maybe – just maybe – we could try a new regeneration therapy, but that's really a couple of years away from being ready. Even if the research was rushed through as soon as possible, we're still talking a good six months. Amputation is also a remote possibility, but only as a last resort."

"Maybe not so remote..." Jaime glanced at Steve as a new thought occurred to her. "His legs are crushed ... like ours were ..."

"I see where you're going with that," Steve acknowledged. "What about it, Rudy? Could you make Oscar a set of legs?"

"Bionic ones?" Rudy considered it for a moment. "I suppose it's possible, but I don't know what his reaction would be; I'll have to talk to Oscar and see what he thinks."

"Steel rods, or even that new therapy, could still leave him in a wheelchair, right?" Jaime asked softly.

"That's right." Rudy weighed his next words carefully. "There's a lot more to bionics than the physical aspect – but I'm sure you both know that. There's a huge emotional adjustment, months of physical therapy _and _the possibility of rejection. Given Oscar's age, it could prove to be much harder for him to adapt; the two of you were both much younger."

"But we were just as hardheaded as he is," Jaime pointed out helpfully. "Stubbornness plays a big role in getting through the initial problems."

Steve chuckled in spite of himself. "And we're looking at the reigning queen of stubborn," he told Rudy.

Jaime gave Steve a playful punch in the arm, then a kiss. "Don't you forget it."

- - - - - -

They got back to Edwards just before 10pm, and although most of the hospital section was dark, one light blazed brightly – above Oscar's bed. Rudy's team and the three surgeons were all standing in anxious watch over their pale, unconscious patient. After sending Steve and Jaime over to their own beds, Rudy had the attendant wheel him right up to Oscar's bedside.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We'll tell you after you're in bed yourself, Rudy," the surgeon from DC said gently. "You're already pushing yourself way too hard."

"He's my patient -" Rudy protested.

"And you're _our _patient," the surgeon retorted, not backing down.

"Doctors made the worst patients..." Jaime called from across the room.

Rudy sighed, and hoisted himself into his hospital bed. He continued watching Oscar with worried eyes. "Now – what's going on?"

"The full extent of the pain finally hit him," Rudy's assistant explained. "We wound up giving him morphine; nothing else seemed to help."

"We need to make a decision very soon," one of the foreign doctors proclaimed. "If we're going to amputate, it should be done immediately – tomorrow night, if possible."

Jaime gasped involuntarily, and Steve reached across the small gap between their beds to take her hand. "I'll speak with him tomorrow," Rudy promised.

- - - - - -

Rudy, assisted by his team, replaced Jaime's power pack first thing the next morning while the three surgeons attended to Oscar. They had timed his pain medication so that when Rudy returned to the ward, Oscar would be nearing a conscious awareness of his surroundings, so he'd be able to speak with his doctor and (hopefully) come to an agreement.

"Hi there," Rudy said with a slight smile when his patient finally opened his eyes.

"Hey, Doc," Oscar answered with great effort, "my legs...aren't doing too well, are they?" Rudy was shocked at how much weaker his friend and patient had become in the last twenty four hours, but he tried to keep a positive tone.

"We need to decide how you want to proceed, in terms of treatment; it's time, Oscar."

Oscar nodded. "Right at this moment, I'm tempted to tell you to cut them off." His voice trailed away briefly. "It's that bad," he finished.

Rudy nodded. "We've already spoken about your choices, but I have one more possibility for you to consider." He glanced across the ward, where Jaime and Steve (who'd promised to stay out of the conversation for the time being) were pretending not to listen. "Oscar, I could make you a new set of legs, and -"

"_Bionic _legs?"

"That's right. It could work, and it's a viable option to get you back on your feet and walking again."

"Rudy, thank you, but there's not a snowball's chance in Hell I'd let you make me bionic."

- - - - - -


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

"_Excuse me?" _Jaime sputtered, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

Steve put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Sweetheart," he whispered, "this isn't our conversation – or our decision."

Jaime would not be dissuaded. Still a little groggy from her own anesthetic, but knowing exactly what she was saying and doing, she made her way to Oscar's bedside. Although her smile was a loving one, her hands were on her hips and her jaw was set in a tense, no-nonsense manner. "Not a snowball's chance, huh?"

"Jaime -" both Steve and Rudy said at the same time. Jaime wasn't listening to either of them. Her focus was completely on Oscar.

"Wanna tell me just what's so horrible about bionics now, when they were just fine for Steve and me?" she demanded, and then softened, just a little. "Oscar, it's scary and it's strange and I'll admit I hated the idea at first. I mean, I wanted Rudy to take them off – 'freak' was the operative word, I guess – but you get used to it, and it's a hell of a lot better than life in a wheelchair!"

"Jaime," Oscar began, smiling at her through his pain and wondering if the torrent of words was over. "They're wonderful – under the right circumstances. You and Steve were younger and a lot stronger to begin with, and you've both made excellent field agents."

"Thank you," she conceded. Rudy backed away from the bed, deciding to let Jaime have a go at this, after all.

"I'm a little more set in my ways, and I can also do my job just fine from a wheelchair," Oscar said quietly. "There's no justification for the expense -"

"Who cares?" Jaime retorted, forgetting to keep a gentle tone. "You're worth every penny, and you know it!"

"That isn't the point here -"

"Then what is? You might be older than we were, but you're no senior citizen. You're strong and healthy – and also stubborn, which seems to be a key bionic quality. You've dedicated your entire life to your career and the good of this country, and you deserve the chance to walk again!"

"Babe, I fully intend to walk again...someday," Oscar told her. "I've already decided what the right option is for me and for my situation."

Rudy got up and moved back to his patient's bedside. "Which is...?" he probed.

"I want you to put in the steel rods," Oscar said firmly. "Then while my legs are doing whatever healing they can manage, that regeneration therapy you were talking about will be getting closer to becoming a reality. Once it does, I intend to be one of its first test cases." Oscar looked at Jaime again and smiled reassuringly. "The wheelchair isn't forever; I _will _walk, but it'll just take a little more time. I'm a patient man, and I can wait."

Jaime bent down and kissed Oscar lightly on the forehead. "You sound like your mind is made up," she told him.

"It is. There's nothing wrong with bionics – when used in the right situation. This just isn't the right situation."

Jaime nodded her understanding, and Rudy noticed that she wavered a bit on her feet. "Back to bed for you, Young Lady," he ordered, in full doctor mode. "You're still pretty fresh from surgery yourself, and exhausted, too. I want you lying down before you fall down."

Steve was instantly at his wife's side, helping her back to bed. He took a second to wink at Oscar. "Ya done good," he told him, then bent to whisper in Jaime's ear. "And so did you."

- - - - - -

Russ arrived at the Base just after lunchtime and was provided with a small conference room in which to take Jaime and Steve's statements and receive an update from Oscar's surgeons.

Jaime, too hyped up from wanting to help earthquake victims _right now _to stay in her bed, had been put on an enforced bed rest program by Rudy's injection of a mild sedative. She would be going to the conference room last. Russ had hoped to meet with Oscar himself (back in the ward, of course), but he found his boss and mentor sleeping soundly and even the bureaucrat in Russ didn't have the heart to wake him.

He met with the doctors first, admitting that yes, he would have authorized bionic replacement had it been requested, but that Oscar had probably made the right decision. The surgery was now scheduled for the following morning and Russ planned to return to the Base then in a show of support. It would be unclear for quite some time how soon Oscar would resume his OSI duties in any capacity, but Russ was relieved to learn that he did, indeed, plan to return to the job as soon as medically possible.

Steve's statement, as expected, was ugly and grim. Most of it covered areas Russ had already received reports about, but he took careful note of the circumstances surrounding Michael's shooting by Chris, from the only living witness to the incident. Steve had not heard anything from either of his captors that might indicate that Peggy Callahan had anything to do with the latest incidences of violence.

When Jaime finally made her way into the room, she was leaning on her husband's arm for support. Rudy had already briefed Russ on the fact that Jaime's surgery, although relatively minor, combined with smoke inhalation, her rough treatment at the hands of Michael and Chris, as well as the stress involved in surviving the earthquakes, had taken a serious toll on her. She found herself lightheaded, much weaker than she'd expected and simply run down and exhausted. It would be several days before Rudy would authorize her to leave the Base hospital in any capacity, and those days would be spent in bed and resting, whether Jaime liked it or not.

Her statement was much shorter than Steve's, as she'd witnessed very little of what had happened with Michael and Chris. She made sure to state for the record that Russ's shooting of Chris Williams had been fully justified, since all of their lives were under immediate threat and there had been no other way that was certain to stop him. When she was finished, Steve returned to retrieve her, pushing an empty wheelchair. Although Jaime eyed it with disdain, she also sank into it gratefully with a weary sigh. The instant Steve got her settled and comfortable in her bed, Jaime was sound asleep.

Steve looked up to see Rudy in his wheelchair, motioning silently to him. "I know she's asleep," Rudy whispered, "but let's go down the hall to talk anyhow."

Worried about his wife even before the doctor wanted to speak with him, Steve quickly complied, pushing Rudy's chair a good distance away from the ward, into a tiny alcove, before setting its brake and pulling up a chair to sit facing him. "What is it?" he asked anxiously. "Is something wrong with Jaime?"

"I wouldn't say 'wrong', exactly," the physician said calmly. "Something did turn up in Jaime's tests, though, that we weren't expecting to see."

"What is it?" He braced himself for the worst possibilities.

"Don't look so nervous; I haven't told you yet." Rudy grinned. "Steve, it seems your wife is pregnant."

- - - - - -


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

_"...Steve, it seems your wife is pregnant..."_

Rudy's words stunned Steve almost beyond the ability to speak. His jaw dropped, then bounced upward into a huge grin. "Jaime's...having...a baby?"

Rudy smiled back. "You have more than one wife?"

"That – that's wonderful news...isn't it? I mean, she _is _ok, right? Does she know yet? What happens now?"

"I just saw the test results myself, so, no – we haven't told Jaime," Rudy replied.

"The earthquake – she was buried – is everything...ok?" Steve asked nervously.

"Well, we won't know for certain for a few more weeks; it's still very early. But like the old saying goes, it's hard to shake a good apple from the tree. I am a bit concerned about the smoke inhalation, but we'll keep a close eye on her. Since she was given oxygen immediately, there shouldn't be a problem, though."

Steve nodded. "When can we tell her?"

"How about as soon as she wakes up? This does mean she won't be able to help clear away rubble and rebuild houses, like she'd hoped, but -"

"She'll rest; _I'll_see to that!" Steve promised.

"Some physical activity is fine – good for her, in fact – but I know Jaime's tendency to overdo it, and moderation is the key word now."

"I'll take good care of her, Doc."

Rudy reached up to pat his friend's shoulder. "I know you will. Now, why don't we go and check on Jaime? And...Steve? Congratulations!"

- - - - - -

Steve found himself unable to do anything other than sit and watch his wife while she slept. _A baby! _He could hardly believe it, but knew it would seem much more real once he'd shared the news with Jaime. The hour and a half seemed to take forever, but he didn't grow the least bit tired of gazing at her face; for him, that sight held infinite fascination.

Finally, Jaime opened her eyes. When she saw Steve, she jumped. "What?" she asked, startled. "Am I sick or something?"

"No, Sweetheart," he said, kissing her tenderly. "Why would you think that?"

"You're hovering."

"Oh. Well, I do love you, and can't get enough of watching you, even when you're sleeping." He sat on the edge of her bed, grinning ear-to-ear. "But it just so happens I do have some news for you."

"Must be good, from the look on your face..."

Steve couldn't keep it to himself for one more millisecond. "Jaime...Sweetheart...you're pregnant!"

"I'm...what?"

"You – we – are having a baby!" Steve exulted.

While Steve had been struck speechless, the news had exactly the opposite effect on Jaime. "I'm...pregnant...are you sure? Is Rudy sure?"

"Well, he -"

"A baby! We're gonna be parents – can you picture that? Us – parents! Oh, we have so much to do before he gets here. We have to build a nursery, paint, buy furniture, pick out a name for him - it'll be a boy, you know. How far along?"

"I'm not sure, but -"

"I can ask Rudy. Where is he? When did you find out? Steve, this is so wonderful...isn't it?"

Steve kissed her again, smiling even wider at her enthusiasm. "Of course it is. And Rudy's right here." He stepped away from the bed so Jaime could see Rudy, sitting beside them in his wheelchair, beaming like a proud grandpa.

"Rudy, are you sure about this – really, really sure?" Jaime asked.

"As positive as your test, Honey. We weren't looking for that specifically, of course, but once it popped up, we ran the test a second time. You are definitely pregnant."

"How far – do you know?"

"It's still very early. Probably about seven or eight weeks."

"Steve, it must've happened right after I got out of the hospital, then."

"Looks that way," he agreed.

"Wow...a baby..." Jaime sank back onto her pillow. "Rudy, will it be ok – I mean, with my bionics and all – can I actually _have _this baby?"

"Well, understand that this is completely new territory in the study of bionics; haven't had a subject become pregnant before, you know. But I don't see any reason why you can't carry a baby to term. We'll keep a very close eye on your medical condition, and I have a feeling someone else will watch out for you the rest of the way."

"Like a hawk," Steve confirmed.

"A baby..." she repeated, one more time.

"I have other, less earth-shattering news for you, too," Rudy said once Jaime had finally settled down. "National Medical's power has been restored, they have two vacant rooms available and I've arranged to transfer you and Oscar there this afternoon. His surgery will go much more smoothly in a real operating theater. And you, my dear, won't have to share a room with anyone, especially not a trio of men."

"I didn't mind. I had very special roommates. What about Steve?"

"He's healthy and in great shape, considering what you've both been through in the last three days. He's being released from medical care...but I've made arrangements for a reclining chair for him to sleep in for now, since you know he won't be leaving your side."

"You'd have to pry me away," Steve agreed, "and good luck trying to do that." He reached down to tenderly caress Jaime's face. "Lady, you are stuck with me."

"Oh," Rudy added, "and Jack Hansen is on his way over here."

"Let's see if we can get packed and moved out before he comes," Steve suggested impishly. "This has been a good day so far – why spoil it now?"

Jaime shook her head in mock condemnation. "Shame on you..." she scolded. "I'll help!"

Less than an hour later, Hurricane Jack blew onto the ward, full speed ahead. "Marchetti and Williams are dead, and I find this out second-hand, when the written reports finally reach me. No one was able to pick up the phone? I should've been informed, and you should've..." His voice trailed off when he finally realized he was ranting at a ward with four empty beds. "Where the hell is everybody? Hello? Is everybody gone? And why was I not told about this? Why doesn't anyone ever tell me anything?!?"

- - - - - -


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

After Steve had fluffed Jaime's pillow, tucked the blankets around her just so and kissed her goodnight, he stretched out in the reclining chair and promptly fell asleep. His dreams were happy, golden ones – of bringing a newborn baby home and becoming a family. In his netherworld of sleep, he watched the child grow up, joined by several brothers and sisters, in a close-knit, dinner-together-every-night type of home and hearth.

Jaime's dreams were not so golden. Upon dozing off, she felt like she was falling, hard and fast, into a huge crevice created by an earthquake. She could hear her baby crying, but was unable to free herself to even begin to look. Then the sky grew dark, lightening flashed all around them and the cries turned to wails before falling silent. Jaime's netherworld was one of fear, panic and helplessness, and she tossed restlessly across the bed before finally waking with a start and a quiet scream.

Steve was instantly alert and at her side. As he tried to brush away the silent tears flooding her cheeks, he felt his wife's body shaking. "Jaime? What is it?" he asked.

"A dream...really bad one!" she whispered. Steve drew her into his arms and she leaned against his chest, unable to stop crying. The fear in her dream had carried over and she was seized by stark, icy-cold terror. "There was an earthquake, and I was falling...and I couldn't find the baby...Steve – I dreamed I lost our baby!"

Steve gently smoothed her hair and rubbed her back, rocking her slightly to try and soothe her. Gradually, her trembling stopped but he continued holding her tightly until Jaime's tears had ceased, as well. "Everything's ok," he told her softly. "You're gonna be a great mother, and I think you know that. It was just a bad dream, Sweetheart." He sat down on the bed, stretching out next to Jaime, on the very edge, holding her until long after she finally managed to go back to sleep.

- - - - - -

"I'm sorry for waking you up last night," Jaime told him the next morning. "I think everything sort of caved in on me."

"It's ok," he assured her. "You've been through an awful lot in just a couple of days, and maybe it all hit you at once. Rudy said none of what happened should hurt the baby, and you're mending nicely, too; you'll be home again before you know it, and I'm betting you'll feel a whole lot better then."

"I know I will."

Rudy arrived just after they'd polished off their breakfast trays, and – to be on the safe side – Steve told him about Jaime's nightmare. "Hormones can do strange things to the mind," the doctor reminded the Austins, "and you've both endured more trauma than most people see in a lifetime. I'm sure it'll pass, but let me know if you have any more of those dreams, ok, Honey?" Jaime nodded. "We'll be starting Oscar's surgery soon," he continued. "Do you need anything?"

"Yeah," Jaime replied, "we need you to keep us posted."

"I promise; as soon as it's over, I'll come and give you an update. In the meantime, more rest – doctor's orders."

"Husband's orders, too," Steve added. After Rudy had gone, he re-assumed his position on the edge of Jaime's bed, holding her close and lulling her into what was – luckily – a restful and dreamless sleep.

He nearly drifted off himself, until he was roused back to awareness when the ground beneath them once more began to quiver. Steve instinctively grabbed Jaime, intending to protect her if this was a bad one. Jaime's eyes snapped open when she felt the motions of the ground and her husband, and she threw her arms around Steve, wondering why this aftershock felt stronger than most of the others.

The lights flickered off, then on again, and Jaime cringed. "Oh, God – Oscar's in surgery!"

"Either the generators have kicked in or we didn't really lose power," Steve assured her. Very soon, the ground stopped shaking, and they took a quick inventory of their surroundings. Nothing had fallen, broken or caved in. They were safe, but was Oscar?

The wait seemed much longer than half a day. Lunch came, then dinner, with still no word from the operating room. Finally, hours after the sun had set, an exhausted but smiling Rudy was wheeled in with their update.

"He's doing well," the doctor told them. "Luckily, we weren't cutting when the aftershock hit. The generators are working overtime - we had quite a scare for a second until they kicked in – but Oscar is resting comfortably and should sleep straight through until morning."

"Did you do both legs?" Steve asked.

"Yes, and the damage was extensive. I'm not sure how much the bones will mend on their own, even with the rods, but he's stable and in no danger and that's what's important right now. The team will start working triple-time on the regeneration formula first thing tomorrow."

"That's wonderful," Jaime sighed. "I was so worried; we both were."

"And how is my other patient doing this evening?" Rudy wondered. He eased himself into the bedside chair and gave Jaime a quick but thorough once-over. "You'll be out of here in a couple more days, Young Lady; everything checks out normal."

Jaime beamed. "I have a fabulous doctor."

- - - - - -

True to his word, Rudy released Jaime from the hospital three days later. "You don't have to stay off your feet or become an invalid," he told her firmly, "but there will be no heavy physical labor and – I've already told Russ this – no assignments for the duration."

Jaime nodded. They'd kept up with the earthquake news via a radio Rudy put in the room, and recovery and re-building were well underway. While she had hoped to assist in any way she could be useful, Steve had already made it very clear that he would (gently) physically restrain her if necessary, but she would be following Rudy's orders to the letter.

Phone lines were gradually being repaired and reconnected, and the previous evening, she and Steve had finally been able to reach Jim and Helen. They were both safe and their property untouched by the quakes, although they'd been half out of their minds with worry for their son and daughter-in-law. Steve and Jaime thought it best not to tell them about the kidnapping or the fire and simply let them believe they'd been helping others deal with the tragedy. Their good news had buoyed the older couple's spirits and thrilled them beyond measure; they couldn't wait to be grandparents.

"It'll feel so good to be home," Jaime sighed happily.

"Any word on the condition of your ranch?" Rudy asked gently.

"Not ours, specifically; the area did take some damage, but it was further from the epicenter than we are here, so I'm hoping everything is still standing."

"There was a hole in the barn roof," Jaime reminded him.

Steve nodded. "We may have lost the barn, but the horses are with Helen and Jim, so that's one crisis averted."

"Rudy, thank you for everything," Jaime said with a waver of emotion in her voice. She hugged the brave, loving doctor tightly, with tears in her eyes. "I'll see you soon."

"Once a week at least," Steve confirmed. "More, if necessary." He shook Rudy's hand, then followed his wife's example and drew him into a hug. Steve turned and wrapped an arm solidly around Jaime's waist. "C'mon, Sweetheart – let's go home."

- - - - - -


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

Steve found himself glancing at Jaime repeatedly as he drove their car home from the OSI airstrip where a chopper had picked them up (had it really only been a week ago?) to take them to Los Angeles for their physicals. The fact that the airstrip – and the car – were in perfect shape gave both Austins hope that they might find their home exactly as they'd left it.

He couldn't stop watching her, looking in her direction as much as he could while still keeping his eyes on the road and driving safely. They'd only found out about the pregnancy a few short days earlier, and yet Jaime already seemed to have changed so much. Steve thought she had a new glow about her, but wondered if he was imagining it. She'd acquired a new habit that Steve found utterly enchanting: moving the very tips of her fingers in small, light circles across her still-flat stomach, as if trying to welcome the brand-new life inside.

Jaime looked up and saw him watching. "I still can't believe it, either," she told him, echoing his exact thought at the time. Her smile was so beautiful, so radiant, that Steve began to worry what would happen to that smile – and to Jaime – if their house had been destroyed. She'd proven her strength repeatedly in the last week (as if there had been any doubt), but could she handle a blow like that?

"Jaime," he began cautiously, "I could park the car right before the driveway and take a jog down to check things out myself first, if you want."

"We're in this together, Colonel," she answered calmly, "a team – remember? You're not going without me."

The first thing they saw when he turned into the driveway was the barn. The roof – as expected – had completely caved in, but all four walls were still standing. "We can fix that, no problem," Jaime said happily.

"**I** can fix that," Steve reminded her.

"Yeah, I know. Steve look -!" She grabbed his arm so excitedly that he almost let go of the steering wheel. Slowly, almost with a sense of ceremony, he pulled the car to a stop in front of their house – completely intact and waiting for them, exactly as they'd left it.

- - - - - -

Jaime sat contentedly on the front porch swing, watching as Steve hammered the last few nails into place on the barn's new roof. He grinned at her, showing off just a bit once he saw that she was watching. Jaime's fingertip circles on her stomach had now evolved into light massage with the full palms of her hands once her belly had begun to swell. It was almost an unconscious motion now, something she did without thinking about it that kept her more connected to their son or daughter.

Steve looked so ruggedly handsome up there! She'd offered to be his assistant and hand him tools, nails, etc., but he'd insisted she sit and relax. His 'hovering', as Jaime called it, was pretty much an automatic reflex, and he was taking great joy in spoiling her rotten. He'd even taught himself to cook, taking kitchen duty at least every other night, all the way through to the clean-up afterward. Several months earlier, before the earthquake, Jaime had thought her love for him couldn't possibly be any stronger, but he was proving her wrong every single day.

"Done!" he called, leaping down to the ground with a self-satisfied flourish. He looked toward his wife just in time to see her eyes open wide with shock, both hands on her stomach.

"Steve – come here! Hurry!"

Steve moved bionically fast to reach her side. "What's wrong – do you need Rudy?" He looked at his wife more closely; there were tears in her eyes, but she was smiling radiantly.

"I'm fine," she answered. Jaime took his hand and placed his palm on the roundness of her tummy.

"Yeah," he said, still confused. "You've finally got a little 'baby bump'."

"Just wait a minute." Suddenly, there it was again – a tiny THUMP, almost like birds' wings, from inside her body.

Steve felt emotion well inside him, moving him almost to tears. "That's...the baby?"

"Well, it's not indigestion!" Jaime wisecracked.

Steve snaked his other arm around her, too mesmerized to remove his palm from her tummy, and kissed his wife tenderly. "I love you so much..._both _of you!"

- - - - - -

A week later, on a warm, sun-blessed day, Steve finally brought the horses home. "It's so good to see them again!" Jaime said happily, giving each one of the trio an apple, a pat and finally a hug.

"Did you call Doctor Hammond about being able to ride?" Steve asked. He held his breath, knowing how difficult it would be to keep Jaime off of her horse, even if it had been forbidden. She'd been great about tolerating the extra rest periods, the restrictions her doctor had laid out (and the even stricter ones Steve had lovingly imposed) and hadn't had so much as one negative mood swing. She'd missed the horses terribly, though – they both had – and if Jaime was told she couldn't ride, Steve knew the day would come (very soon) when she'd just saddle up and take off and he'd have to drag her back home in a blue hormone funk.

"He said it's fine, for a couple more weeks, anyway, as long as the horse doesn't take it above a nice, steady walk. Once my balance starts getting awkward, we'll have to see. And I'm not supposed to put the saddle on; I have to let you do it." Jaime rolled her eyes. "Doctor Hammond doesn't realize that to a bionic arm, a saddle weighs almost nothing."

"That bionic arm is connected to a non-bionic, pregnant body," Steve said gently.

"Yeah, yeah...Oh – I talked to Oscar this morning, too."

"How's he doing?"

"Better. A lot less pain – he's even talking about going back to work soon."

Steve smiled. "Russ will be so relieved."

"He said some weird stuff, too..."

"Oh?"

Jaime nodded. "Something about the regeneration formula taking an awfully long time. He's sick of the wheelchair."

"Sounds like normal Oscar behavior to me," Steve noted.

"Yeah, but he mentioned that Rudy might have another option really soon. He wouldn't tell me any more about it, though...I even played the 'be nice to the pregnant lady' card, and he wouldn't spill it."

"He can keep secrets with the best of 'em, but I imagine we'll find out eventually."

Jaime chuckled. "But not 'til Oscar's good and ready."

- - - - - -


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Doctor Hammond says it could happen any day now," Jaime said, trying her best not to bounce with excitement.

"Is he still here?" Steve asked, just in from cleaning the barn.

"He left a little while ago. You know I'm getting close when he starts making house calls."

"Maybe he was hoping to catch me up on the horse," Jaime added, laughing. "Rudy called; he's gonna stop by for a visit, so you might want a shower and some fresh clothes -"

"Are you trying to say I stink?"

"Well, you're a little...um...ripe," she chuckled, scrunching up her nose but kissing him anyway.

"I get your extremely subtle hint," he told her, heading down the hall. When he was finished, Jaime had picked some flowers for the vase on the kitchen table, brewed fresh coffee and set out a basket of still-warm muffins.

"I felt like baking," she said with a shrug. "It's not strenuous." Her eyes lit up and she began heading for the front door. "He's here!."

The Austins stood arm-in-arm on the front porch, waiting for Rudy. When the car pulled up and the passenger door opened first, both Steve and Jaime's jaws dropped in almost identical fashion. Rudy had brought along a very special guest.

"Oh, my God..." Jaime gasped, not quite believing it. "_Oscar...you're __**walking**__!"_

Indeed, he was. Looking like the world's most content canary-fed tabby, Oscar Goldman walked with a sure, steady gait up the porch steps to embrace his friends. Rudy followed behind, a sheepish grin covering his entire face.

"I wanted to tell you," Rudy explained, "but I was sworn to secrecy."

"In case it didn't work," Oscar affirmed.

"In case _what_didn't work?" Jaime wondered. "The regeneration formula? It did all of this, so quickly?"

"Nope." Oscar couldn't hold back his secret for one more moment. "I've joined a very elite group, you see. Only three members..." he looked at Jaime and Steve expectantly, wondering which of them would get it first.

Jaime's eyes grew wide. _"Bionic?"_

"They've got snowballs in Hell, I take it?" Steve added in amazement.

Oscar laughed heartily. "Jaime, you look like you should be sitting down, and Rudy said something about coffee and muffins..."

"Chocolate chip. I made blueberry ones, too."

"For a blueberry muffin, I just might be persuaded to tell you everything," Oscar admitted. Once they were inside, seated around the table, he did just that. "Yes, they're bionic – but not exactly like yours." Seeing the question marks in his friends' eyes, he went on. "The power packs are much smaller, and non-nuclear. Losing them wouldn't be life-threatening – like when we almost lost you, Jaime – my legs just wouldn't work because they'd have no power. I can't run sixty miles an hour, in fact can't run at all yet, but -"

"But you can walk!" Jaime exclaimed. "Oscar, that's wonderful!"

"I've had this on the drawing board for about a year now," Rudy explained. "I call it electronically-powered alternative prosthetics."

"'Bionic' has a much nicer ring to it," Jaime pointed out. "Now we can truly welcome you to the family, Oscar. And Rudy, brilliant as always."

"Why, thank you."

All three men turned to look as Jaime flinched slightly with a barely audible gasp. "Jaime?" Steve asked.

"I think the baby wants a muffin, that's all," she answered lightly.

Steve eyed her closely, but she seemed alright now, buttering her muffin and not appearing at all uncomfortable. "Oscar," he said, "I'm really happy for you. It sounds like the perfect choice."

"I think so too, Pal."

Jaime gasped again, putting down the muffin. "Uh...Steve? We were just talking about family, and I hope you're ready, because ours is about to increase by one more!"

- - - - - -

Steve opened the car door and Jaime, looking positively ethereal, emerged carrying Jenna. "I still can't believe how tiny she is – and that she's a girl!"

"She's as beautiful as her mother," Steve said softly. He helped Jaime up the porch steps, opened the front door and stopped, dead center in the doorway.

"What – you're not letting us in the house?"

"I'm gonna carry you over the threshold," he told her.

"Steve, that's for weddings! Besides...the baby!"

"I know; I feel like carrying my new family over the threshold, going into the house for the first time all together."

"I always have liked the way you think, Colonel," Jaime said, allowing him to carefully lift the two of them into his arms. He carried them through the doorway and Jaime moved to stand up again, but Steve kept right on walking – all the way down the hall to the nursery before setting her gently back on her feet. Jaime tilted her head up to kiss him, then tenderly laid Jenna in her brand-new crib with its bright yellow bumper pads and the sun, moon and stars on the bedding. She leaned back into Steve's arms and they both gazed in wonder and adoration as Jenna wriggled a bit then promptly fell asleep.

Steve beamed at his two favorite women. "Now _this _is what I'd call an Earth-shaking event!"

END


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